Pranab Mukherjee’s public criticism of the prime minister (PM) on the latter’s willingness to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is yet another instance of indiscipline in Cabinet. This has been happening too often ever since Jairam Ramesh openly made fun of the prime minister’s visit to Brazil to promote India’s cooperation with that country.
The prime minister is supposed to appoint his ministers, which, unfortunately, is not the case in the present dispensation. They are all beholden to Sonia Gandhi, who must be wondering how she came to acquire so much clout. Would the ministers concerned have dared to criticise Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi if they were prime ministers? The finance minister, while raising the substantive issue that the prime minister is answerable only to Parliament, should have known that the PAC is a creature of the central legislature.
Mukherjee has unwittingly played into the hands of the Opposition, which has been saying that ministers can be summoned only by the Joint Parliamentary Committee and hence the need for it. Can ministers and the prime minister not be summoned by the courts in cases in which they are involved?
A Seshan, Mumbai
