It will no longer be easy for public-spirited individuals and non-governmental organisations to drag the Madhya Pradesh chief minister and his associates to court for their omissions and commissions. On Tuesday, Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet approved a bill that seeks to provide them with immunity against “unnecessary and irritating" petitions. The bill's name describes its intentions clearly: it has been called the Tang Karne Wali Mukadamabazi Nivaran Vidheyak (Prevention of Irritating Legal Practices Bill).
If activists are to be believed, the bill's target is more specific than its broad title makes it out to be. They claim that the legislation is intended to protect the government from the public interest litigation cases that have been filed in connection with the multi-billion rupee professional examination board scam that was uncovered in 2013. They have alleged that Chouhan played a role in manipulating the results of the entrance test for employees to several public services.
"The government wants to provide immunity to the chief minister and ministers from the PEB scam heat," Right to Information activist Ajay Dubey told local media on March 18.
Harassing whistleblowers
Another RTI activist, Puneet Tandon, told journalists that the government was seeking to harass whistleblowers by prohibiting their access to the courts. Three whistleblowers played a major role in unearthing the recruitment scam. They have sought security from central forces, claiming that they no longer trust the police cover provided to them by a local court. One of them moved the Delhi High Court last month for protection against possible arrest by the Madhya Pradesh police.
Activists are not sure how much room they will have to manoeuvre under the Prevention of Irritating Legal Practices Bill. The proposed legislation empowers the state’s advocate general to object to any litigation against the chief minister or a minister if he feels that it is intended to harass the government or its functionaries. If the advocate general manages to convince the court, the petition will be dismissed immediately.
"After the bill is ratified by the state assembly, no FIR can be filed against the chief minister and ministers," said Dr Narottam Misha, the state government‘s spokesman and law minister.
Already, Chouhan is facing rising heat in the recruitment scam. On Wednesday, a Congress delegation comprising Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibbal called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to order a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the scam. The Congress leaders gave the prime minister what they claimed was an "original excel sheet" retrieved from the computer of an examination board employee. They alleged that Chouhan arranged to have the document manipulated to get his name as recommender replaced with that of his predecessor, Union minister Uma Bharti.
Leader of opposition Satyadeo Katare said that the bill is the chief minister's attempt to impose an Emergency in the state. “The bill clearly indicates that Shivraj Singh is seeking an escape route for the corrupt in the government to save their skin," Katare told journalists. The Congress, he said, would move the High Court of Madhya Pradesh to get the bill scuttled. It would not be possible for the opposition to stall the bill in the house because of the BJP's massive majority, he admitted.
Blatant infringement of rights
Former Madhya Pradesh director general of police Arun Gurtu, who has filed PILs that have resulted in many important court interventions in land encroachment cases, described the bill as a blatant infringement of fundamental rights. “This bill will render the law and order situation completely uncontrollable," he told the Bhopal edition of the newspaper Dainik Jagran.
Legal experts echo the strong sentiments of the activists. “This law cannot be sustained,” retired Delhi High Court judge Usha Mehra told the Hindustan Times. “It’s against well established principles of law, common sense, and natural justice,” she added.
Supreme Court lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan said it was a “legal absurdity”. He said, “This is not only completely against all legal systems but also amounts to interference with the course of justice. There’s a limit to which you can take absurdity.”
The Madhya Pradesh law department, however, argued that too much was being read into the bill. A senior minister, who asked to remain anonymous, contended that the bill has nothing to do with the scam. "It has been introduced on a suggestion of the registrar general of the Madhya Pradesh high court with the objective to lessen the burden on the state’s courts”, he told Scroll.in.
Huge backlog
At present, more than 1.80 lakh cases are pending before the three benches of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. The number of pending cases in lower courts in the state is approximately 2.5 lakh.
Officials said Madhya Pradesh is not the first state to introduce such a bill to bring down “ irritating and frivolous “ lawsuits that avoidably burden the courts. A similar act has been in force in Tamil Nadu since 1949 and in Maharashtra since 1971.
The Madhya Pradesh bill is accordance with the recommendations of the 192nd report of the Law Commission of India, which was released early this year, the law department officials added.
Former Madhya Pradesh advocate-general RD Jain argued that the prerogative of admitting a lawsuit against any government functionary rests with the high court. The bill only authorises the advocate-general to only raise objections to unnecessary lawsuits, he said. "The judges can overrule the advocate-general's objections," he told journalists in Bhopal.
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If activists are to be believed, the bill's target is more specific than its broad title makes it out to be. They claim that the legislation is intended to protect the government from the public interest litigation cases that have been filed in connection with the multi-billion rupee professional examination board scam that was uncovered in 2013. They have alleged that Chouhan played a role in manipulating the results of the entrance test for employees to several public services.
"The government wants to provide immunity to the chief minister and ministers from the PEB scam heat," Right to Information activist Ajay Dubey told local media on March 18.
Harassing whistleblowers
Another RTI activist, Puneet Tandon, told journalists that the government was seeking to harass whistleblowers by prohibiting their access to the courts. Three whistleblowers played a major role in unearthing the recruitment scam. They have sought security from central forces, claiming that they no longer trust the police cover provided to them by a local court. One of them moved the Delhi High Court last month for protection against possible arrest by the Madhya Pradesh police.
Activists are not sure how much room they will have to manoeuvre under the Prevention of Irritating Legal Practices Bill. The proposed legislation empowers the state’s advocate general to object to any litigation against the chief minister or a minister if he feels that it is intended to harass the government or its functionaries. If the advocate general manages to convince the court, the petition will be dismissed immediately.
"After the bill is ratified by the state assembly, no FIR can be filed against the chief minister and ministers," said Dr Narottam Misha, the state government‘s spokesman and law minister.
Already, Chouhan is facing rising heat in the recruitment scam. On Wednesday, a Congress delegation comprising Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibbal called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to order a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the scam. The Congress leaders gave the prime minister what they claimed was an "original excel sheet" retrieved from the computer of an examination board employee. They alleged that Chouhan arranged to have the document manipulated to get his name as recommender replaced with that of his predecessor, Union minister Uma Bharti.
Leader of opposition Satyadeo Katare said that the bill is the chief minister's attempt to impose an Emergency in the state. “The bill clearly indicates that Shivraj Singh is seeking an escape route for the corrupt in the government to save their skin," Katare told journalists. The Congress, he said, would move the High Court of Madhya Pradesh to get the bill scuttled. It would not be possible for the opposition to stall the bill in the house because of the BJP's massive majority, he admitted.
Blatant infringement of rights
Former Madhya Pradesh director general of police Arun Gurtu, who has filed PILs that have resulted in many important court interventions in land encroachment cases, described the bill as a blatant infringement of fundamental rights. “This bill will render the law and order situation completely uncontrollable," he told the Bhopal edition of the newspaper Dainik Jagran.
Legal experts echo the strong sentiments of the activists. “This law cannot be sustained,” retired Delhi High Court judge Usha Mehra told the Hindustan Times. “It’s against well established principles of law, common sense, and natural justice,” she added.
Supreme Court lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan said it was a “legal absurdity”. He said, “This is not only completely against all legal systems but also amounts to interference with the course of justice. There’s a limit to which you can take absurdity.”
The Madhya Pradesh law department, however, argued that too much was being read into the bill. A senior minister, who asked to remain anonymous, contended that the bill has nothing to do with the scam. "It has been introduced on a suggestion of the registrar general of the Madhya Pradesh high court with the objective to lessen the burden on the state’s courts”, he told Scroll.in.
Huge backlog
At present, more than 1.80 lakh cases are pending before the three benches of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. The number of pending cases in lower courts in the state is approximately 2.5 lakh.
Officials said Madhya Pradesh is not the first state to introduce such a bill to bring down “ irritating and frivolous “ lawsuits that avoidably burden the courts. A similar act has been in force in Tamil Nadu since 1949 and in Maharashtra since 1971.
The Madhya Pradesh bill is accordance with the recommendations of the 192nd report of the Law Commission of India, which was released early this year, the law department officials added.
Former Madhya Pradesh advocate-general RD Jain argued that the prerogative of admitting a lawsuit against any government functionary rests with the high court. The bill only authorises the advocate-general to only raise objections to unnecessary lawsuits, he said. "The judges can overrule the advocate-general's objections," he told journalists in Bhopal.