Jethmalani wants charge-sheeted ministers to quit

Jethmalani said charge-sheeting was not the only evidence of guilt of a person. Caesar’s wife has to be above suspicion and ideally a doubtful person should not be given a ticket or at least an office. But he said the Constitution was silent on the issue.

“But to uphold the dignity of the office, out of self-respect the charge-sheeted person should resign,” he said. But he should be punished only when found guilty by the last court (the Supreme Court), he added.

Opinions at the discussion chaired by O P Shah, chairman, Centre for Peace and Progress differedon the issue. Congress leader Devendra Dwivedi, said that ministers should set higher standards for themselves. But at the same time he said there was a new tendency emerging to misuse the law. A potent weapon — the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) — was being misused, he said and both the ruling parties and the opposition should come together and ensure that the law is not misused this way. There have to be no double standards, he added.

“If Buta Singh (former communications minister) is in the Congress then his place is in jail. But if he is in the BJP then he can even be a minister. This is wrong,” Dwivedi said. Morality should not be a football between the government and the opposition. “Personally I do not think that Advani (Union Home Minister L K Advani) and Joshi (Union Human Resource and Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi) are guilty. I agree with Jethmalani that Ayodhya is a grey area and is politically motivated,” he said.

Mohit Sen, on the other hand, argued that a charge-sheetedminister should not resign unless he personally feels guilty or feels that the dignity of his office is affected. Elaborating further he said if the minister is wrong or bad for the party and the government and is a liability, then the Prime Minister will automatically ask him to go.

He said the resignation of the minister serves no purpose as there are chances that he will be succeeded by a more corrupt minister though probably one who is not charge-sheeted. On the Ayodhya issue, he said it was the demolition of a pillar of secularism and Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharati should apologise for it. Otherwise they are guilty, he added.

Advocate Manjit Singh Khera who especially came down from Chandigarh for the discussion giving his own example said that often people were charge-sheeted out of political compulsions and that there cannot be a cut and dry solution to this problem. Khera said that the conscience of the charge- sheeted person must prevail.

Supreme Court advocate Dr Surat Singh giving the exampleof the Jain Hawala case said so many ministers were charge-sheeted but ultimately nothing came of it. He felt that there should be a committee comprising retired SC and High Court judges which should decide within two months whether a minister is guilty or not.

Legal luminary and women’s rights activist Rani Jethmalani said that once charges were framed the minister should resign. She said the accused had ample time to put forward his point of innocence before the framing of charges.