Didi, SP won't join JPC on bill on dismissal of PM & CMs

NEW DELHI: Calling it a farce, TMC and Samajwadi Party Saturday announced they would not join JPC on the bills and constitutional amendment that prescribe dismissal of CMs, ministers and the PM if they remain under arrest for 30 days. While TMC's boycott was expected, SP's decision has increased pressure on Congress to follow suit in interest of opposition unity.

SP's decision to align with TMC has triggered unease in the opposition camp. Now, even Congress ranks are unsure about the party's final stance, wondering if the leadership will be forced to change its position for the sake of unity. Until now, Congress has been heavily tilted in favour of joining the panel.

TMC MP Derek O'Brien said, "The Modi coalition pushing to form this JPC to examine an 'unconstitutional bill' is a stunt performed to create a distraction from SIR. Someone needed to call a stunt a stunt. I am glad we did."

"SP stands with Mamata Banerjee and TMC on the issue of not being a part of JPC," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav told TOI Saturday. He said, "The very idea of the bill is flawed because the person who has moved the bill (home minister Shah) had, on several occasions in the past, cited his own case to claim that he was falsely implicated in criminal cases. It means anyone can be framed for criminal offences. So, what is the point of the bill then?"

Yadav said this also explained how SP netas like Azam Khan, Ramakant Yadav and Irfan Solanki had landed behind bars. Claiming the bills clash with India's federal set-up, he added, "Like it has happened in UP, CMs will be able to withdraw criminal cases filed against them in their respective states and Centre will have no control because law and order is primarily a state subject. Centre will only be able to handle cases filed by central agencies like CBI, ED and the likes."

Interestingly, while questioning futility of the present JPC - which will be headed by a BJP MP and have a majority of NDA alliance members - O'Brien cited panels from the past formed by Congress govts on Harshad Mehta scam and Bofors case, even pointing to the allegation that "a Congress member had taken a bribe" for the Bofors guns.

He argued JPCs were once conceived as well-intentioned mechanisms with exceptional powers to ensure public accountability. "However, this purpose has eroded significantly post-2014, with JPCs increasingly manipulated by the govt in office... procedures are bypassed, opposition amendments rejected, and meaningful debate replaced by partisan fluff."

Though the opposition was bracing for TMC's boycott, other parties were ready to join the JPC, arguing deliberations in parliamentary panels carry weight in court hearings and shape public opinion on controversial legislations. SP's decision to stay away, however, has triggered uncertainty in opposition ranks as it weakens the collective voice against the bills.