MESSAGE BOARD
NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Government plans to set up Constitution review committee on Republic Day

Amberish K Diwanji in Delhi

The National Democratic Alliance government is all set to draft a panel to review the Constitution, a move that has not been welcomed by the other political parties. It is believed the government will announce the names of the panel members on January 26, the 50th anniversary of the Indian Republic.

Speaking at a seminar yesterday, Law Minister Ram Jethmalani said though the founding fathers of the Constitution must be lauded for giving India one of the finest principal laws to guide the nation, the fact was that there were certain gaps that needed to be filled.

Jethmalani said though the basic structure of the Constitution had remained intact, there was scope for further review and hence the government would appoint a committee to review the Constitution.

However, the government is not defining any period for setting up the Committee.

"No such committee has been announced as yet and the picture is still not clear," Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley told rediff.com He added that there was no specific timeframe yet on setting up the committee.

The I&B minister refused to divulge names that were being considered as members of the panel.

However, reports indicate that the government will, in all likelihood, ask former President Ramaswamy Venkataraman to head the committee. The former President refused to confirm or deny whether he had been approached in this matter.

Venkataraman also served the nation as Union finance and defence minister and though he was a Congressman before becoming President, of late he has been seen as moving away from the Congress party. Venkataraman, who was one of the trustees of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, recently resigned his post. The IGNCA, headed by Sonia Gandhi, is in the midst of a legal battle against the government that is objecting to certain changes made in the governing clauses.

Appointing Venkataraman will be seen as being above partisan politics since he has or had little links to the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. As a former President, his stature is above mere politics, and as a former Congressman the BJP can hardly be accused of promoting its agenda.

But the hurdle ahead is the disagreement of the other political parties. The Congress, the Communists, the Socialists and the Dalit parties are strongly opposed to any review of the Constitution.

The Congress, Communists and Socialists fear that the BJP wants to review the Constitution to promote its agenda. The Dalit parties are opposed to the review, interpreting any review as an insult to Dr B R Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution who is revered by the Dalits of India as their greatest leader.

These parties have declared their intention of opposing any panel set up to review the Constitution.

"A Constitution review committee does not make sense," Congress spokesman and constitutional lawyer Kapil Sibal told rediff.com

Sibal also challenged the notion that the Constitution could be reviewed by a mere panel or committee, no matter howsoever qualified. "Reviewing the Constitution by just a committee is most inappropriate. It can only be done through a consensus of all political parties and through a much larger body representing more people," he stated.

He claimed the BJP's motive in seeking to review the Constitution was simply to perpetuate itself in power and to bring forth its "hidden agenda."

Asked if a Constitution review needed a constituent assembly rather than a review panel, Sibal replied, "I won't say specifically a constituent assembly, but it needs a body that the people of India can have faith in. The present set up of a few people manning it is not acceptable," he added.

Thus, given the opposition from the other political parties, both to the idea of a review and also to the kind of panel being set up, the government will have to tread cautiously, even as it prepares to announce the panel to coincide with Republic Day.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report