Congress should concede JPC probe demand

It might be alarmist to say so, but the accumulating body of evidence seems to suggest that mischief is afoot in the form of an orchestrated conspiracy to murder Indias democratic system of governance. The conclusion of the winter session of Parliament on December 13, during which due to daily disruption of both houses of Parliament, the important business of the countrys highest legislative assembly couldnt be conducted for 22 days, marks a new low in the history of parliamentary governance in India. And the fact that this unprecedented paralysis of Parliament has come hard on the heels of the 543 members of the Lok Sabha having voted themselves a massive 300 percent wage hike last August even as the great majority of the populace struggles to make ends meet in an era of double-digit inflation, indicates that cynicism of the peoples elected representatives has plumbed new depths.Although ex facie the opposition parties are at fault for stalling the business of Parliament for 22 days demanding a probe into the 2-G spectrum allocation scandal (which according to a report of the comptroller and auditor general of India has cost the public exchequer a massive sum of Rs.176,000 crore by way of lost revenue) by an all-party joint parliamentary committee (JPC), the Congress-led UPA-II ten-party coalition government, which adamantly refuses to concede this demand, is perhaps more blameworthy. Its a well-established principle of the law of natural justice that when a sufficiently large number of members — even if not a majority — of an organisation or institution demands a particular procedural process for the conduct of business, the demand should be accepted in the interests of protecting minority rights. For instance under a specific provision of the Companies Act 1956, minority shareholders are empowered to seek judicial relief for oppression by majority shareholders. Indeed, theres something suspicious about the Congress partys adamantine refusal, notwithstanding the huge monetary loss to the exchequer and damage to the reputation of Parliament, to concede the opposition demand for a JPC probe. Admittedly the probe could be conducted by the parliamentary accounts committee or the CBI under the supervision of the Supreme Court. But these options are not infinitely superior to a probe conducted by an all-party JPC. On the contrary, by tradition, a JPC has wider powers to summon and cross-examine the high and mightiest in the country than the PAC and CBI. And surely a scandal of this magnitude needs to be investigated by an impartial all-party committee armed with the widest possible powers. Given that a substantial percentage — even if not the majority — of the membership of Parliament favours a JPC probe into the 2-G spectrum allocation scandal and the possibility of the government-opposition deadlock extending to the budget session looming large over Parliament, national interest demands that the UPA government concedes this probe. Even if the opposition parties conduct in paralysing the functioning of Parliament through riotous behaviour is reprehensible, the government has a greater vested interest in orderly…