Sorry state of affairs’ in Parliament: Chief Justice of India

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, added that “there was no clarity of laws” being enacted in the Parliament

ParliamentImage Courtesy:ndtv.com/

At an Independence day celebration at the Supreme Court on Sunday, August 15, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, said the Indian Parliament was seeing a “sorry state of affairs” adding that “there was no clarity of laws” being enacted. This, according to the CJI, was leading to “a lot of inconvenience”. 

According to news reports, Chief Justice Ramana who was speaking at a flag-hoisting ceremony, also said that once there used to be wise and constructive debates in Parliament but now there “was lack of quality in the discussions being held while enacting laws”. According to the CJI this kind of a situation arises when “when intellectuals and professionals like lawyers were not present in the House.”

“If we look at our freedom fighters, many of them were also in the legal fraternity. The first members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were filled with lawyers’ community,” Chief Justice Ramana said at an event to mark the Independence Day at the Supreme Court.

 

This is a strong message from the CJI, the second such message this month. Recently he had at an event organised by the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) called out the threat to human rights and bodily integrity at police stations. He had said “custodial torture and other police atrocities are problems which still prevail in our society. Inspite of constitutional declarations and guarantees, lack of effective legal representation at the police stations is a huge detriment to the arrested and detained persons”. He had added that the dissemination of information about the constitutional right to legal aid is significant in keeping police excesses in check.

The CJI’s statement on August 15, came in the wake of the  abrupt end of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, two two days ahead of schedule, and the repeated disruptions in both the Houses. He was quoted in multiple news reports saying, “If you see debates which used to take place in Houses in those days, they used to be very wise, constructive… Now, (it is) a sorry state of affairs…There is no clarity in laws. It is creating a lot of litigation and loss to the government as well as inconvenience to the public.” 

The CJI added, there was “no clarity in laws. We don’t know for what purpose the laws are made. In the absence of quality debate, we are unable to fathom the intent and object behind the new law: This is what happens if intellectuals and professionals like lawyers are not there in the Houses.”

Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju reacted to the CJI’s speech and blamed the Opposition for the ruckus, and lack of debates in Parliament.

 

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Threat to human rights and bodily integrity highest in police stations: CJI NV Ramana

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