Rajya Sabha,
Parliament House,
New Delhi
Hon'ble Sir,
The events of the last couple of days relating to the demand of the Opposition that the House debates certain issues in relation to the matter arising out of the report of the PAC has exercised the minds not only of the Opposition, but also of all concerned with the orderly functioning of the House. We must express our anguish at the turn of events during yesterday afternoon's Session of the Rajya Sabha. We have always believed that the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, by virtue of his office is the custodian of the prestige, honour, and dignity of the House. The Chairman is the guardian of the interests of all sections of the House.
The Chair symbolised by the high office that you hold, has traditionally functioned as a facilitator, smoothening the rough edges, thereby enabling the House to function in a spirit of co-operation. The Chair, traditionally and as a matter of policy, cannot get involved in the thicket of politics since the Chair is above politics and never takes a stand on issues that are essentially political. Any pro-active posture that has the tendency to involve the Chair in purely political matters has always been avoided and that has been the tradition of the House.
The Opposition, in respect of the 54th Report of the PAC, had three basic demands:
1) The report of the CVC to the extent it has a bearing on 'Operation Vijay' be forwarded to the PAC as requested for;
2) The Minutes of the verbatim proceedings and evidence recorded by PAC be placed on the table of the House; and
3) That the Prime Minister responds to the debate that will ensue.
You are aware of the fact that the Opposition has, for almost twenty months, refused to recognise Mr George Fernandes as the
Defence Minister and steadfastly taken the position that the Prime Minister's stand in re-inducting Mr George Fernandes as Minister of Defence requires a public explanation, particularly in view of the fact that the Minister who had voluntarily resigned and promised the nation that he would not seek re-induction to the Cabinet till his name was cleared by the Venkataswamy Commission, had no right to hold the position of the Defence Minister in an era when transparency and accountability are the hallmarks of democracy. You may personally disagree with this position, yet it is for the Government to make its stand clear. Being the second highest dignitary of the Republic and being Ex-Officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha we expected you to keep yourself above the controversy and to objectively guide the proceedings of the House.
By declaring that the Defence Minister will reply to the debate, you did what the Government was required to state in the floor of the House. A large section of the House considers that such observations do not fall within the ambit of the jurisdiction of the Chair. The piquant situation created by your observations has embarrassed a sizeable section of the House.
The fact is that we demanded that the reply to the debate be given by the Prime Minister, which requires a response from the Government. Whether or not the PAC had raised appropriate queries seeking a report of the CVC in relation to 'Operation Vijay', is also a matter to be responded to by the Government alone.
All the above issues agitating the minds of the Opposition are highly political as also emotive. The prevailing tension resulted in the disruption of normal proceedings of the House. It is primarily the responsibility of the Government to take initiative to resolve the impasse but no such efforts were evident. The political system has the flexibility to find ways to overcome the impasse. Chairmen have in the past used their good offices to restore normalcy in the House.
We might add, that the proceedings of the Business Advisory Committee on informal consultation in Chairman's Chamber are normally not matters of debate in the House. Yesterday, unfortunately, this convention was not adhered to. It is not unusual for the Opposition in Parliament, to demand that certain documents be placed before the House. The Government, on the other hand, seeks to withhold the same on grounds of secrecy and national interest. You, unfortunately, in your ruling articulated what the Government could have said, in their favour.
Also, your observations on the functioning of the PAC as part of your ruling is likely to be interpreted as interference with the functioning of the Lok Sabha. PAC is essentially a Committee of the Lok Sabha though seven members of Rajya Sabha are associated with it. It may be pointed out that before 1954, Rajya Sabha did not have any representation in the PAC. It is essentially a financial Committee. As the Lok Sabha is solely responsible in matters of money and finance, this Committee is rightly served by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
We believe that the long tradition followed by the Presiding Officers of this House in not involving themselves in the thicket of politics, will in the future be upheld by you. We further believe that you will allow political issues to be resolved between the Government and the Opposition on the floor of the House itself and as an arbitrator of the destiny of this House; you will watch and facilitate the process. We are sure that in the times to come, you will choose to abstain from deciding for and on behalf of others, while the Government and the Opposition debate and decide matters on the floor of the House.
Chairman's ruling are not to be questioned and we have no intention to do so. Through this letter we wish to express our feelings to you. We are writing this letter in this spirit not to show any disrespect to the Chair, or to disobey the ruling of the Chairman. As we mentioned yesterday, our fight is against the insensitive attitude of the Government.
Therefore, we will continue our non-cooperation with the Government by not participating in the proceedings of the House in the remaining period of current Session. However, since we have committed to extend our support to the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bills, we will do so when these Bills are debated on the 19th of this month.
With respectful regards,
Yours sincerely.
Manmohan Singh
Pranab Mukherjee
Manoj Bhattacharya
H K Javare Gowda
Rishang Keishing
Nilotpal Basu
Ram Deo Bhandary
Gaya Singh
