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Yesterday, in an interview to Karan Thapar’s show, To The Point, on India Today Television, the Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda touched upon some controversial issues like abrogation of Article 370, the NJAC debate, the Land Acquisition Act and also on the question of making Yoga compulsory in schools. Here is a brief summary of his responses on various issues:
On Article 370
When asked about the abrogation of Article 370, a manifesto promise of the BJP, the minister said a wider consultation and then a consensus was required before this could be done. On being asked about the alliance terms with PDP in J&K giving the CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed a veto over the issue, he conceded that this was the case.
This makes its abrogation unlikely till the time BJP & PDP are in a coalition govt in the state. This is significant because the J&K govt’s tenure ends in 2021 and the Union govt’s tenure ends in 2019. This also means that the abrogation of Article 370 which has been one of the core issues of the BJP will not be considered in this tenure of Narendra Modi’s Prime Ministership.
On the Land Acquisition Act
Another major issue the Law Minister commented upon was the Land Acquisition Act and his comments seemed to suggest a climbdown by the Modi govt and a willingness to make changes to certain clauses. Having faced stiff opposition in the parliament and outside, he expressed willingness on the part of the govt to retain the clause of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act to revert unused land to farmers after 5 years except for long gestation projects like atomic plants. Even on the contentious issue of the consent clause that the Modi govt wanted to do away with, there seems to be a rethink. The govt is now open to accepting a diluted consent clause of 51% if suggested by the parliamentary standing committee said the minister. On the question of ownership of land in industrial corridors, he also confirmed that it will be owned by investors and industrialists.
On National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)
The NJAC is being debated in the Supreme Court these days and the Law Minister Gowda sought to counter some of the arguments made against clauses of the NJAC. He argued that appointment of Judges was not a part of the Judiciary and was a responsibility of the Executive. It has been asserted by the judiciary that the Judiciary’s independence might be compromised if it is not accorded primacy in selection of judges and the NJAC provides them parity rather than primacy. Mr Gowda countered it by arguing that the independence of the Judiciary starts after the appointment of judges and not during the appointment process. On the worry expressed that in the panel to elect two eminent persons to be appointed to the NJAC, the Chief Justice might be outnumbered by the PM and the Leader of the Opposition coming together, he brushed it aside as a needless worry as the PM and the Leader of the Opposition throughout India’s history never see eye to eye on political matters and there was no likelihood of it happening in this case either.
On the nomination of 2 Anglo-Indian MPs to the Lok Sabha
Article 331 of the Constitution permits the govt to nominate 2 Anglo-Indian MPs to the Lok Sabha but even after one year has passed, the Narendra Modi govt has not been able to do it. The minister said this had not been done as the BJP was preoccupied with the membership drive in the first year. He however refused to commit to any time frame when this will be done and said it was the prerogative of the Prime Minister only.
On making Yoga compulsory in schools
He stressed that efforts were required to persuade Muslims who think Surya Namaskar is against their religion. He made it clear that it was a sensitive issue that required delicate handling and ruled out any coercion on the part of the govt.
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