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The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Sh. Somnath Chatterjee today
called upon all concerned to ensure that the Country’s
Democratic institutions, particularly Parliament and Assemblies,
collectively function and the individual members discharge
their duties in a dignified manner as the custodians of the
people’s faith. While delivering the " D.P.Kohli
Memorial Lecture" organised by the CBI in honour of its
founding Director on its 42nd anniversary here, Sh. Chatterjee
said that the country’s laws should also contain adequate
provisions to deal with legislators who fail to live up to
the expectations of the people and indulge in demeaning behaviour
ignoring norms of probity and rectitude. He urged all to consider
whether people should not be given the right to recall their
representatives, if the situation so demanded.
The Speaker said that legislators in our country have the
special responsibility of respecting adequately and faithfully
the verdict of the people, who are the real masters in a democracy.
If they themselves show lack of effective and dignified commitment
to parliamentary behaviour and are perceived to be self-seekers
and unconcerned about the discharge of their responsibility,
the people, specially the youth, who are our future leaders,
will lose faith in the system as a whole, resulting ultimately
in total chaos and, in turn, will be the harbinger of authoritarianism,
Shri Chatterji said.
The Lok sabha Speaker said that democracy becomes meaningful
only when enabling social, political, economic and legal conditions
are created wherein people can exercise their rights and they
are free from fear and want. "But, we must ask ourselves
whether, over the years, we have come out successfully through
these tests during the process of democratization, as envisaged
by our Constitution, and how far we have been able to honour
the commitments we made to our people", he questioned.
Shri Chatterji said, "We need to practise cooperative
federalism to make for reconciliation of the urges and aspirations
of the people where the Centre and the States would work in
cooperation and consultation with each other in the interest
of the people and preserve the unity and integrity of the
country. I would attribute the lopsided development in the
country to our imperfect federal structure and unbalanced
distribution of powers between the Centre and the States".
He said, "It is high time that a closer look is given
to this crucial aspect. Good governance practices demand that
meaningful and effective autonomy is given to the States so
that they come out with their own policies and programmes
and raise their own resources.
Talking on globalisation, the Lok Sabha Speaker said "we
would do well to guard against its negative impact. While
we go in for economic reforms, we should ensure that such
measures are consistent with our national interests and are
implemented with a human face".
The Minister of State for Personnel, P.G. and Parliamentary
Affairs, Sh. Suresh Pachauri said that his Government would
take necessary measures to enhance the efficacy of CBI to
strengthen the enthusiasm, initiative and enterprise of its
staff. Sh. Pachauri said that his Government will ensure that
CBI soon has its own building for its headquarters. He further
said that the agency’s proposal to grant 25% special
allowance to officials of certain ranks of CBI would be taken
up by him with the Prime Minister. Sh. Pachauri said that
in a democratic polity, institutions that ensure transparency
in the public administrative set-up are a necessity and added
that over the years CBI has gained the trust not only of the
executive, parliament and judiciary but also the people of
the country.
The Central Vigilance Commissioner, Shri P. Shankar said
that the Commission( Central Vigilance Commission) is conscious
of the need to give CBI full freedom in the investigation
of cases under the P. C. Act. He said that the Commission’
concern has been more of delay in investigation. Shri Shankar
said it has always waited for the CBI to inform it of any
need for the Commission’s intervention where the agency
felt constrained in any manner and such a situation could
be retrieved under the CVC Act. Shri shankar said that Institutions
such as CBI and CVC are not constitutional institutions but
creations of the statutes of Parliament. He said that 55 years
ago when the constitution was adopted, there was perhaps no
conscious recognition of any external threat on autonomous
organisations including investigative agencies like CBI and
CVC, hence no thought of explicit mention of autonomy and
insulation. But, he said, over the years things have changed
and ultimately Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain Judgement
spelt out the need to have such insulation explicitly provided
through legislation in the case of CBI. He further said that
such an explicit statement needs to be understood in the proper
perspective and spirit not only by CBI and CVC but also by
the legislature and the political executive.
The Director, CBI, Sh. U.S.Misra said that there has been
cancerous growth of corruption in the country in the last
50 years and the idealism generated during the freedom struggle
has waned considerably leading to corruption. Sh. Misra said
that within the constraints of present legal system of the
country, CBI has done yeoman service by detecting and investigating
corruption in high places. He said, during the past couple
of years, CBI has devised a strategy of Special Drives wherein
simultaneous searches are conducted all over the country against
corrupt officials and claimed that the strategy has had a
definite impact on corruption.
As a Law Enforcement agency, Shri Misra said, CBI has also
come under intense critical review of public, the media and
judiciary. He lamented that on occasions, CBI is unjustly
criticised for alleged lapses without realising that it is
just one facet of the Criminal Justice System. He pointed
out that even the most thoroughly investigated case can be
adversely affected due to delays inherent in the trial process.
However, he said he would have no hesitation in saying that
despite occasional shortcomings, CBI enjoys high credibility
among citizens of this country.
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