Seventeen concerned eminent persons from various walks of life have appealed to President Pranab Mukherjee to rethink and reject the incumbent government's repeated moves to use the ordinance route to activate their policies and proposals in the name of good governance and for the so-called benefit of the people of the country.
In their open letter to the President, these citizens have said that using the ordinance route goes against the spirit of the Indian Constitution, and what the Supreme Court has said on the issue.
"We are writing this in the public interest, concerning the ordinances which are cleared by the union cabinet and issued by your esteemed office, with special reference to the Ordinance which seeks to amend the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 or LAA 2013."
"LAA 2013 was enacted after much effort by various people's movements and political parties, to resolve the conflict due to forcible land acquisition, give farmers their due, and also meet the needs of industrial development. The title of the Act shows that the legislation is meant to help people to claim their rights to transparency and fair compensation when their land is acquired. But now the ordinance seeks to dilute the people-friendly provisions, notably the need for consent and for conducting the Social Impact Assessment when acquiring land, so as to make it convenient for governments to easily force poor and marginalized people to part with their land and lose their livelihoods against their wishes, to facilitate PPP and private projects to establish themselves," they stated further.
The eminent citizens said that when the Supreme Court of India has categorically said that the ordinance-making power should be used in the nature of an emergency power when Parliament is not in session, and or to meet an extraordinary situation, why is the NDA Government being allowed to pervert the existing process for political ends.
In their open letter, they said that there was no justification for using the ordinance route nor was there an extraordinary situation to merit such action.
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"From the newspaper reports we read your concerns for the same, but we feel that government must be asked to not take this route as often and bring the matter to the floor of the Parliament," they said.
"As the custodian of our Constitution of India, we urgently appeal to you to rethink and reject these ordinances, and advise the government to table the contemplated amendments to LAA 2013 in the forthcoming session of Parliament, so that people's representatives will be able to democratically discuss the issues involved," he added.
They requested the president to stop what they called was a gross abuse of law.
The people who sent the letter to the president are as follows:
1. Justice Rajindra Sachar
2. Harsh Mander, ex IAS, former member of National Advisory Council
3. Prof. Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University
4. Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker
5. Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad
6. Dr. V. Mohini Giri, ex Chairperson, National Commission of Women
7. Adv. Shanti Bhushan
8. Praful Bidwai, Columnist, New Delhi
9. EAS sarmaI.A.S. (Retd), former Union Secretary of Power
10. Suhas Borker, Working Group on Alternative Strategies
11. Dr.Vandana Shiva, Navdanya
12. Aruna Roy, Social Activist
13. M. G. Devasahayam, I.A.S. (Retd)
14. Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan
15. Praful Samantra, Lok Shakti Abhiyan
16. Geetha Ramakrishnan, Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Samagam
17. Maj. Gen (Retd) Sudhir Vombatkere
Copies of the letter have been forwarded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.