Union home minister Amit Shah’s statement that the government is open to constructive suggestions on the three criminal laws that have come into effect on July 1 and his offer to incorporate changes, if needed, are welcome for many reasons. For once, it shows a change in the way the NDA government approaches criticism. The NDA, in its last two terms, bulldozed its way on issues of critical national importance and did not heed or even care for any suggestions.
Those from the Opposition who criticised decisions and policies were ridiculed or trashed and the advice of experts ignored. If the government now feels that it must be more open to ideas, then it bodes well for democracy. And if it walks the talk, and enters into a consultative process on law-making, then it also means that it has taken the right lessons from the results of the general election.
The Union home minister’s offer to incorporate changes, if required, is equally welcome. Law-making is a complex process in a country such as India, and the procedures have a definite role to play in ensuring the quality of the final output. Unfortunately, the last two NDA governments treated the legislature as a captive structure as if it has no dynamic of its own.
Legislative processes which have evolved over the life of the republic were often given a go-by. It may be recalled that the government interlocutors were repeatedly offering to sit across the table with farmers agitating against the three farm laws but to no ava.
