Lows in lawmaking

There8217;s just one person who emerges unscathed in the office of profit OoP sideshow-turned-political drama turned-near constitutional crisis 8212; the president. Abdul Kalam reminded the political class of its duties towards legislative propriety. And though MPs refused to give up the convenience of an amended law that prioritises individuals over systemic reform, they have now had to make some concession to the head of state8217;s concerns. Of course, the joint parliamentary committee on the OoP issue doesn8217;t affect the bill that has been passed by both houses and awaits the president8217;s clearance. As our explainer on the op-ed page points out, Parliament can8217;t form a committee to reconsider a bill it has already cleared. So, the JPC doesn8217;t materially affect MPs keen to protect all their offices. But the committee, which has its mandate defined by the points raised by Kalam, has been asked to avoid ad hocism. This is a significant step forward. Also, a big reminder to the political class that the spirit of the law matters as much, sometimes more, than its letter. And it wouldn8217;t have come about had the president simply signed the bill when it first came to him.

It is necessary to note therefore that criticism of the president that he was taking a position on an issue not worth presidential intervention was ill-informed at best. Kalam allowed the prestige and weight of his office to bear down on the office of profit issue precisely because it raised big questions about legislative conduct. The OoP JPC now has a chance to comprehensively reform the sorry mess. Hopefully it will not, like JPCs on other controversies, be long on verbiage and keen to avoid status quo altering insights.

Unfortunately for the system, other institutional clashes over legislative intent are looming. The law that had legalised illegality in the matter of Delhi land use is before the Supreme Court, courtesy public interest litigation. The court has so far rightly not been kind in its observations about the law. Will political parties anticipate the future and make the issue moot by changing their views on the matter? There has so far been no indication from senior leaders. Will real estate lobbies in the city of Delhi manage to create a first rate legislature-judiciary confrontation? The fact that we are even asking this question shows how low lawmaking can get.