New Delhi: (Captain GR Gopinath founded Air Deccan and is considered a pioneer in the low-cost airline sector)The recent actions of Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung have raised eyebrows and a lot of questions.
A few days ago someone in the Aam Aadmi Party called him a Congress agent when he said that the Jan Lokpal Bill cannot be passed by the assembly unless it is first sent to him for consent and then approved by the Home Ministry as per rules.
Arvind Kejriwal regretted the comment later and cautioned his colleagues to show restraint. But there was no doubt in his mind and that of his senior colleagues that the Home Ministry rule cannot supersede the constitution. And that the state assembly is supreme.
There were opposing views. There was the AAP view which was dismissed as irresponsible. And there was one that the Congress and the BJP used to block the Jan Lokpal Bill, insisting that Kejriwal must respect rules.
The Congress and the BJP do not have an unblemished record on respecting the constitution. They have abused and amended the constitution often while it suited their parochial and partisan interests in the past. In Delhi, the Congress government that preceded Kejriwal's had passed 13 bills without approval from the Lieutenant Governor.
Eminent jurists spoke on either side of the debate. There were those who said Kejriwal must abide by the governing rules in place and go through the motions of getting approval and sanctions from the Lieutenant Governor and the Home Ministry. Others, like Soli Sorabjee, said the Delhi Government cannot be subjected to Home Ministry dictates or discretionary orders. That these orders cannot over-rule a law passed by elected representatives of the state. This, as Sorabjee said subsequently, was only his opinion. He said Kejriwal should have waited for the court's verdict which was already seized on the matter, instead of quoting him and acting on his opinion to precipitate matters.
The resignation of Kejriwal last week has brought back the role and functioning of governors in focus. Few will dispute that despite Supreme Court strictures and strict guidelines on the role of governors, the august office has been abused on many occasions when they have been called upon to exercise their discretion in a political impasse.
When Kejriwal was asked a day after his resignation if he was not upset once again with Lieutenant Governor Jung for not recommending the dissolution of the Delhi assembly, he did not rush in with criticism. But he made no bones that he was deeply disappointed at Mr Jung's action and hinted that he felt the Lieutenant Governor may have acted at the behest of the Centre.
Kejriwal saved the Lieutenant Governor more embarrassment, but the question needs to be asked.
When the Chief Minister of Delhi resigned and recommended dissolution, and the BJP declined to form a government and the Congress could not form a government with its dismal numbers, where was the dilemma? Was the Lieutenant Governor not constitutionally and morally bound and also constrained by the simple arithmetic of the assembly to recommend dissolution straight away?
It would have also been easy to combine the Delhi assembly re-election with the Lok Sabha elections due by May. That he chose to keep the assembly in suspended animation which serves no purpose save that of the Congress party, seems somewhat self-evident. Bringing Delhi under Central rule means it is under the Congress' rule.
Was the Lieutenant Governor acting under pressure and at the behest of the ruling party?
There are also fundamental questions long unanswered. Do we need a governor at all? The office is a vestige of the Raj and an anachronism. A white elephant of avoidable pomp and glory with little seeming purpose except used often to offer sinecures to rehabilitate troublesome or useless politicians within the party or to offer plum postings to pliant bureaucrats as quid pro quo after retirement?
It may be prudent to once again review the necessity and role of governors in the modern state with the kind of politics of accountability and awareness that has come about in the wake of Anna Hazare's movement and with the launch of the Aam Aadmi Party which has redefined the politics of this country.
If it is found that the governor is a necessary adjunct in today's political situation, then the very first step should be to make his selection, appointment, transfer and removal transparent, fair and independent of the ruling party.
It has to be modelled after the selection process for the Lok Pal, made by a high-profile panel of eminent people from the ruling party, opposition, judiciary etc so that he acts fairly, without fear, favour or pressure and upholds the constitution in letter and spirit. There have been numerous instances when governors have seemed to bend over backwards to please political interests and as many instances of the ruling party unceremoniously sacking them when they did not toe the line.
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