The Supreme Court ruling on Karnataka MLAs’ resignation leaves much scope for ambiguity about the Speaker’s powers. It left the decision on resignation to the Speaker but fettered him on disqualification by allowing them to defy any whip. It has missed a great opportunity to end squabbling over Speakers’ powers.
ICJ order on Kulbhushan Jadhav is victory for India, opportunity for Pakistan
The ICJ order on Kulbhushan Jadhav is a vindication of India’s position and is a big victory for New Delhi. India’s diplomatic and legal team built a fine case and deserve to be congratulated. This is also a good opportunity for Pakistan to show goodwill and mend fences with India.
While India should rightly celebrate consular access granted by ICJ to Kulbhushan Jadhav, we cannot forget how what is true of Pakistan in Jadhav’s case is equally true of our govt in our own backyard where human rights defenders and lawyers are being routinely picked up, labelled and jailed.
Our prayers are with Shri Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family. May they be reunited soon.
If an important dispute arises, the apex court is duty bound to adjudicate upon it. However, when the British designed their parliamentary democracy, upon which ours is modelled, they expected certain norms, conventions, good behaviour and decency to take root. The Speaker is like the umpire or referee, not the party loyalist most have become. Recall Smt Sumitra Mahajan’s tenure.