Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 11, 2007
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Govt-Kalam_ties_fraying_at_edges/articleshow/1590352.cms
President A P J Abdul Kalam's decision to
return the file seeking elevation of Justice Jagdish Bhalla to the Kerala
High Court marks a certain fraying of relations between Rashtrapati Bhawan
and government as the father of India's missile programme nears the end of
his tenure as the President.
The President's decision to signal his unhappiness
over Justice Bhalla's elevation, apparently in the light of controversy surrounding
acquisition of a Noida plot by his wife, is the third instance of Kalam taking
a less than sanguine view of government decisions in the last year-and-a-half.
And in the Justice Bhalla case, it is the
second time that Kalam has chosen to raise a question over a judicial appointment.
He had returned a similar recommendation regarding
Justice Vijender Jain's elevation as chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High
Court which had been mooted by the Supreme Court collegium and then forwarded
with the government's assent.
Sources pointed out that though the President
had given his nod to the Justice Jain recommendation when it came back without
changes, the move had not gone down well with him.
Rashtrapati Bhawan had previously been in
the eye of an even bigger storm over the office-of-profit Bill. The President's
discomfort over the Bill - which sought to give across the board amnesty to
legislators who faced disqualification for holding an office of profit - became
a full-fledged embarrassment for government.
The OoP Bill was first sent to the President
in May after being hastily hustled through Parliament. But Kalam had sent
it back with a message and observations over the need for wide legal and constitutional
consultations.
He had reasoned that the draft must have a
"comprehensive criteria that is fair and reasonable" and be "universally
applied"to all states and Union Territories in a clear and "transparent
manner".
Given the political compulsions to save its
own MPs as well as many from the Left from disqualification, the Congress
leadership sent the OoP Bill back after a delay. But the episode took some
of the sheen off PM Manmohan Singh's "clean"image.
Relations between government and Kalam have
simply not been on even keel after the Bihar episode of mid-2005 when the
President agreed, it was felt in haste, to sign a proclamation placing the
state under Central rule.
The decision had been taken because Congress's
key ally, RJD boss Lalu Prasad, faced the danger of his rival Nitish Kumar
forming a government in the state with the help of breakaway LJP MLAs.
The decision later drew judicial censure and
Kalam was understood to be deeply annoyed at what he felt was the government's
move to lead him up the garden path.
He made his displeasure known to several senior
political figures and while talk of his resigning did not actualise, the President
has since viewed all reccomendations from government with care.
In case of judicial appointments, government
can always claim that the decision is that of the SC collegium. But appointments
are discussed with the government and if it has a strong objection to a particular
selection, the CJI
usually takes note.
