Civil society brings out 'chargesheet' against Modi govt for 'undermining' democracy

As Prime Minister Prime Minister on Saturday (February 10) patted himself on the back claiming the five years of his government were of “reform, perform and transform”, civil society released a "chargesheet" against his regime for violating parliamentary norms.

The "chargesheet" titled ‘We the People of India Vs. Government of India” alleges the Centre of “subverting and undermining parliamentary democracy” and lists eight charges against the BJP-led government. These are:

1. No Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha in violation of Article 93 of the Constitution

2. Lowest number of sittings in a full term Lok Sabha, controlling Parliament as per its whims, reducing opportunities for holding government accountability

3. Bringing more and more ordinances bypassing parliamentary scrutiny, repromulgating ordinances committing fraud on the Constitution

4. Bringing Bills without following democratic process, passing Bills without discussion, in the absence of Opposition MPs in the House, in an undemocratic manner

5. Lack of transparency in the law-making process, not doing proper public consultations, violating Pre-Legislative Consultative Policy and not sending Bills to Standing Committees

6. Passing Budgets without adequate scrutiny, including problematic provisions like the Electoral Bonds in the Finance Bill

7. Unprecedented number of Opposition MPs suspended in Winter Session 2023, a virtually Opposition-less Parliament passed controversial Bills

8. The government is uncomfortable with questions, and questions asked by Opposition MPs get deleted, and ministries provide evasive responses to questions.

'Parliament fundamentally decimated'

“While the parliament itself got housed in a new building, parliamentary democracy has been attacked consistently for the past ten years. The institution of Parliament, a crucial pillar of democracy of representative accountability, has been fundamentally decimated in the last ten years by the government,” a press release said.

Flagging the absence of a Deputy Speaker, the "chargesheet" said, “This is the first time since Independence, that the term of a Lok Sabha will complete with the post of Deputy Speaker remaining vacant despite the mandate of Article 93 of the Constitution that stipulates that Lok Sabha ‘shall’ choose a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker as soon as may be. Since the Speaker is usually a nominee of the government, the Deputy Speaker has conventionally been a nominee of the Opposition.”

Alleging the lowest number of sittings in a full-term Lok Sabha, the "chargesheet" said the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19) had 331 sittings, which declined to 278 during the 17th Lok Sabha. “When the government completes its own agenda for the session, it gets the session adjourned ahead of schedule. Between 2020 and 2022, seven consecutive sessions ended ahead of schedule. The special session and Winter Session in 2023 also ended ahead of schedule. When a session ends ahead of schedule, all questions asked for the remaining days lapse,” the charge sheet added.

The "chargesheet" was released by 22 civil society organisations and 20 noted personalities, including virologist and health rights activist Suhas Kolhekar, environmentalist Ashish Kothari, social worker Nikhil Dey, social scientist Denzil Fernandes and Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar.