Valid politics beyond parliamentary norms

Transcription

1 1 Valid politics beyond parliamentary norms Date: Should parliamentary behaviour be guided by lofty ethics and morality, or should political compulsions take precedence? Lecturing first-time MPs on July 1, eminent constitutional lawyer Fali Nariman plumped for the former. He singled out Mani Shankar Aiyar for diligent preparation, L K Advani for his resignation after the Jain hawala diaries, Atal Bihari Vajpayee for pulling up a minister who denigrated the office of the chief justice and former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for refusing to toe his party line on the nuclear deal, as exemplars of parliamentary ethics. Nariman quoted 16th-century political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli, How does one use power to do good, if wielding power requires one to do evil? He exhorted all new MPs to use their power and parliamentary privileges to work for good, not evil. This is unexceptional. But Nariman also believes political parties by definition are unethical, because they cannot distinguish between moral rights or wrongs. He thinks parliamentary and individual ethics, not any party line, must guide legislators. He is not quite right on this score. India s Parliament, as pointed out by Granville Austin, historian of the Constitution, is not a mere debating club. Our democracy is open ended: it allows outfits representing regional, sectarian, ideological or caste ideals to push their interests to the forefront. That is why we have dominant regional parties and identity-based ones. Politics is, and has to be, contested at multiple levels. Some ethical norms might well turn out to be relative, to both location in the power hierarchy and implications of violating the norm for altering the hierarchy. Party politics, within constitutional principles, must have the final say over abstract norms of conduct.

2 2 Date: Giving India a global-scale bank The proposed merger of the State Bank of India with its five associate banks and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank is a long-delayed and welcome move on the path to banking consolidation, especially among state-owned lenders. SBI s takeover of its five subsidiaries and the three-year-old niche provider of banking services for women will, once consummated, vault the merged entity higher up the rankings ladder on the global banking stage. The resultant benefits to the lender and the economy are evident. The increased balance sheet size will enable the bank to obtain better pricing on both internationally sourced funds and domestic deposits, thus helping it lower lending rates and improve profitability. The added branch network and customer base will also help it expand reach and enable the lender to rationalise resources across the board. There are various estimates of the potential cost savings, with one projection putting the possible reduction in cost-to-income ratio at 1 percentage point. The lender s increased size, in terms of assets, will also give it the requisite muscle to take on new competition from larger banking entities that are likely to be created by consolidation in the banking industry. The Bank Board Bureau has been tasked with overseeing a restructuring among public sector banks in keeping with the government s aim of reducing the number of state-owned lenders and improving their financial health. The merger will, however, pose its unique set of challenges. The scale of the task is substantial given the total staff strength. With more than two lakh employees, the parent will add close to one-fifth that number by way of additions posing a huge test

3 3 in terms of integration of roles, salary, perquisite and pension structures and, no less importantly, work cultures. Much of the opposition from the bank unions stems from concerns relating to these issues. Customers of the smaller, community or regional market-focussed subsidiaries such as the State Bank of Travancore may be discomfited by having to deal with a larger, more impersonal lender, one where the size of their accounts may be viewed as comparatively marginal. For regulators, the new entity will throw up interesting oversight issues. Already identified by the Reserve Bank of India as the country s key Domestic Systemically Important Bank, or too big to fail in simple terms, the enlarged SBI s capital adequacy norms will climb and may require far more by way of infusion of funds than the Centre has committed so far. But such challenges must not be used to undermine the obvious benefits of merger. Bihar s draconian prohibition law Date: Nothing succeeds like excess. This may well be the belief of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, which has passed a stringent law to enforce its total prohibition policy. Prohibition on country-made liquor was imposed on April 1, and within days it was expanded to cover Indian-Made Foreign Liquor. However, the State has now come up with fresh legislation to supersede earlier Acts in a bid to ward off criticism that penal laws and administrative measures do not prevent alcohol consumption. Brushing aside criticism in the Assembly, the government has pushed through a Bill so stringent that the Opposition parties call it draconian. This cannot be dismissed as the usual criticism of political adversaries, as some of the provisions indeed are scarily excessive. The most egregious one allows action against all adult members of a family if liquor is found on their premises or one of them is suspected to have consumed it. The law presumes that all of them must be aware of the offence until proven otherwise, but essentially this amounts to collective punishment. Similarly, the owner of any premises in which liquor is stored or

4 4 consumed is liable for prosecution. With the offences related to consumption, storage and possession of alcohol or any other intoxicant being cognisable, the sweeping provision could land anyone in jail because of the involvement of one family member, tenant or visitor. The authorities could seal or confiscate the property, and fine a group of people or a village, for repeated transgressions. Of late there has been a populist competition between political parties in moving towards liquor bans in various parts of the country. The growing tendency among State governments to ban liquor in the apparent interest of protecting the public health may appear politically attractive, but it is fraught with practical consequences: fall in revenue, a rise in contraband movement, the formation of mafias and a spike in corruption. Mr. Kumar argues that the law is effective in its present form as it seeks to plug all loopholes. It also contains safeguards in the form of provisions to punish officials who misuse it. It may appear pointless trying to convince those who are politically committed to prohibition that the step is impractical, unfeasible or illiberal; it is up to them to draw their own lessons from experience. And from Mr. Kumar s recent statements it is clear that the promise of prohibition may be his calling card as he tries to extend the political presence of the Janata Dal (United) beyond Bihar. However, the controversial new provisions are unlikely to survive judicial scrutiny. Bihar would do well to reconsider them. सम न न गर क स ह त म म श ककल क य Date:

5 5 सम न आच र स ह त क आल चक क पक ष कक इसक आड़ म सरक र ह द क न न क सभ स प रद य पर थ पन च त जबकक इसक समथथक क म नन कक इसस कई व स गततय द र ग और व श षकर क छ स प रद य क मह ल ओ क स थ न ल ज य दत पर र क लग ग स यर ब न न त न तल क क प रथ खत म करन क एक य चचक स च च न य य लय म द यर क, जजस पर ससत बर म व च र न इस व षय पर सबस प ल व द 1985 म आ थ, जब श ब न म मल म स च च अद लत न अपर ध व ध न प रक य क ध र 125 क अ तगथत श ब न क 500 र पय प रतत म भरण-प षण क सलए द न क तनद श हदय थ एक गलतफ म य कक तनज क न न (पसथनल ल ) धमथ क असभन न ह स स जबकक ऐस न तनज क न न म म ख य र प स व, उत तर चधक र, स रक षण, ग द ल न तथ भरण-प षण श समल इन च ज स ककस धमथ क म ल चररत र न बदलत जब 80 प रततशत न गररक एक क न न क त त आ गए, त सबक सलए एक सम न न गररक स ह त न ल न क क ई औचचत य न य म मल अद लत म इससलए आय, क य कक एक श द श द ह द न म जस लम बनकर द सर श द कर ल इसम भ स च च न य य लय न सरक र क सल द थ कक व चध आय ग क य व षय स प ज ए, ज र ष ट र य अल पस ख यक आय ग क स थ व च र-व मशथ कर एक व स त त ररप र थ त य र कर पर त इस पर अमल न आ दरअसल 18 व चध आय ग न द म त प णथ ससफ ररश क थ, ज सम न न गररक स ह त क अ ध रण पर आध ररत न थ, कक त इस हदश म म त प णथ प रगतत थ इसम 1954 क व श ष व अचधतनयम म स श धन कर भ दभ प णथ प र ध न क खत म करन तथ सभ व क प ज करण अतन यथ करन श समल थ अब य मसल इतन त ल पकड़त ज र, क य कक म जस लम मह ल ओ न 50 ज र स त क षर इकट ठ कर त न तल क क प रथ क सम प त करन क म ग क इसस म जस लम सम ज क बदलत च र भ स मन आत व चध आय ग क अध यक ष न य यम ततथ एस च न न कई क न न क ल द कर स पष ट र ककय कक क छ क न न ऐस, ज सभ सम द य पर ल ग त और धमथ उनम आड़ न आत ब शक सम न न गररक स ह त क

6 6 ल ग न स कई व स गततय द र ग, कक त इसक ख य ल रखन ग कक अल पस ख यक क मन म इसस क ई भय प द न अल पस ख यक क म नससकत क भ समझन क जर रत प ककस त न और ब ग ल द श म ह द भ सम न न गररक स ह त क व र ध करत इसक अल म र स व ध न सभ क अपन मन स ककस भ धमथ क म नन क आज द द त इससलए अल पस ख यक क व श स म ल कर य ककय ज न च ह ए