Letters: Not a 'legislative sanction'

This refers to A K Bhattacharya’s column “Retail FDI battle isn’t over yet” (New Delhi Diary, December 12). The writer notes that “a debate in Parliament has led to a vote on an issue that was hitherto considered to be well within the government’s executive powers and, therefore, not requiring fresh legislative sanction”. My understanding is that the vote in Parliament was a sanction by the legislature, but not a legislative sanction. Like a girl who is a friend does not become a girlfriend, a sanction by the legislature does not become legislative sanction. The expression “legislative sanction” means making a law. In this case, there was no law made. It is not about the semantics, but of substantive importance to differentiate between the two concepts.

Sukumar Mukhopadhyay New Delhi

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