Neutral law

The communal clashes that erupted in Kishtwar in Jammu led to much of the disruption in Parliament this week, especially after Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader Arun Jaitley was prevented from visiting the area and had been detained at Jammu airport by the state government. A flustered Deputy Leader of the Opposition Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded to know from the home minister how a leader of the "stature" of Jaitley could be stopped under the garb of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. To which an unruffled Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who was standing in for Sushilkumar Shinde, set the record straight. "Section 144 is a status-neutral section," he said, taking the wind out of the Opposition's sails. "It is also gender, caste and religion-neutral," he added for good measure.