A new Bill

The 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill directly challenges the rule of law and is arbitrary while undermining the basic structure of the Constitution. In a country where judicial processes take years to settle, losing public office in a period of 30 days on mere accusations and placing even the highest office of Prime Minister at the mercy of the executive is aimed at creating a police state.

In an environment where ethical standards have reached their nadir and where it is commonplace to observe candidates getting absolved of various charges as soon as they switch political allegiance to the party in control, investigating agencies become potent weapons to further political agendas. The best approach would be to introduce a Bill which could end the usual template — where a party is obstructed from absorbing such candidates and limiting the abuse of power.

Madhusree Guha,

Kolkata