Laws are being passed without discussion, Sorry state of Affairs in Parliament: CJI Ramana

CJI said that one of the reasons for the falling standards of the functioning of the Indian Parliament is the acute lack of participation in the law-making processes by intellectuals and lawyers.

“Now we see legislations with lot of gaps, and lot of ambiguity in making laws,” said the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana while speaking at the independence day ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Sunday, Bar and Bench reported.

The CJI criticised the working of the Indian Parliament on the point of lack of clarity in the legislation and the processes being undertaken to pass them.

“It is sorry state of affairs, now we see legislation with sorry state of affairs,” he lamented the deteriorating state of parliamentary debates and loss of a culture of rigorous discussions which he explained is worrisome as it has resulted in a lot of inconveniences to the public besides leading to increased litigation.

The 2021 Monsoon session which has now been abruptly ended before its scheduled day of August 13, has witnessed several disruptions and protests by the opposition which wanted the Parliament to hold discussions on several contentious laws including the farm laws and findings of the Pegasus Project to which the ruling BJP government never agreed.

Read More: Opposition Parties March Against the Attack on Women MPs and Abrupt End of Monsoon Session

“Debates back then in the Houses were very constructive,” the CJI said, NDTV reported.

Referring to the past, he said that earlier the legislation in the Parliament was passed after rigorous debates and discussion which also meant that it was easier for the judicial bodies to interpret the laws as they had a foundational understanding of the aims and objectives of the government behind introducing a new law or policy.

“Earlier different, different laws used to be discussed and elaborated in the parliament. So the burden of the courts while interpreting or implementing the law is less. So the legislative part was clear with respect to what they want to tell us. Why they are making such a legislation,” the CJI stated.

An unusually high number of bills were passed during the last monsoon session in both the Houses. The Rajya Sabha saw 17 sitings and that functioned for 28 hours and 21 minutes during which 19 bills were passed, without any substantial effort from the BJP MPs to considers the contentions of the opposition.

Similarly, Lok Sabha was able to function for only 21 hours and 14 minutes during which 20 bills were passed in what the opposition parities called ‘an undemocratic way.’

He said that one of the reasons for the falling standards of the functioning of the Indian Parliament is the acute lack of participation in the law-making processes by intellectuals and lawyers.

“This is what happens when intellectuals and lawyers are not there in the house,” he said and pointed out that the majority of India’s freedom fighters and parliamentarians during the early independence years were lawyers.

The CJI also encouraged lawyers to actively participate socio-political affairs of the country.

“Don’t confine yourselves to earning money and living comfortably. I hope and expect you will contribute your knowledge and experience to the country,” he added.

Also read: Rajya Sabha Adjourned Four Times in an Attempt to Suppress Discussion on Farm

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