Posted on 25th December by Shyam Prasad
Noted lawyer Praveen Dalal recently asked a very pertinent question. His question was do we have separation of powers in India anymore? In short, his question pertains to the declining role of parliamentary democracy in India. According to him Indian Parliament is slightly better than a non operational one. It does not conduct any relevant business these days and even if it does not operate at all, not much difference would be there.
This opinion is justified if we analyse the present position as prevailing in India. According to Praveen Dalal Indian Agencies and Instrumentalities are working without any law supporting their existence. Whether it is the Aadhar Project/ UID Project, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies of India, etc none of them are “Practically Governed” by any Legal Framework and Parliamentary Scrutiny.
This is a bitter truth which even the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh has also realised. The clean sweep of the winter session of the parliament is a bad trend in the wrong direction. Even worst is to allow new projects like Aadhar and authorities like UIDAI to operate without any legal framework.
Take another example of the central bureau of investigation (CBI) and law enforcement agencies of India. Even after 63 years of independence, India has still not made laws regarding its law enforcement agencies and CBI. It is only after the CBI Act 2010 that a law has been proposed by CBI to give itself a statutory recognition. However, it is still doubtful that the CBI Act 2010 would become an enforceable law very soon.
Similarly, National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (NIDAI Bill) has been proposed by UIDAI. However, according to Praveen Dalal even after the NIDAI Bill, both Aadhar project and UIDAI would remain “Unconstitutional”. This is because the NIDAI Bill is devoid of “Constitutional Safeguards” that can prevent Civil Liberties Violations by Aadhar Project and UIDAI, opines Praveen Dalal.
If parliamentary democracy has to be established by Indian government it must realise that parliament of India has a very crucial role to play. By bypassing this role, the executive are clearly violating the entire scheme of the Indian constitution.
This opinion is justified if we analyse the present position as prevailing in India. According to Praveen Dalal Indian Agencies and Instrumentalities are working without any law supporting their existence. Whether it is the Aadhar Project/ UID Project, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies of India, etc none of them are “Practically Governed” by any Legal Framework and Parliamentary Scrutiny.
This is a bitter truth which even the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh has also realised. The clean sweep of the winter session of the parliament is a bad trend in the wrong direction. Even worst is to allow new projects like Aadhar and authorities like UIDAI to operate without any legal framework.
Take another example of the central bureau of investigation (CBI) and law enforcement agencies of India. Even after 63 years of independence, India has still not made laws regarding its law enforcement agencies and CBI. It is only after the CBI Act 2010 that a law has been proposed by CBI to give itself a statutory recognition. However, it is still doubtful that the CBI Act 2010 would become an enforceable law very soon.
Similarly, National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (NIDAI Bill) has been proposed by UIDAI. However, according to Praveen Dalal even after the NIDAI Bill, both Aadhar project and UIDAI would remain “Unconstitutional”. This is because the NIDAI Bill is devoid of “Constitutional Safeguards” that can prevent Civil Liberties Violations by Aadhar Project and UIDAI, opines Praveen Dalal.
If parliamentary democracy has to be established by Indian government it must realise that parliament of India has a very crucial role to play. By bypassing this role, the executive are clearly violating the entire scheme of the Indian constitution.