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Journalism of Courage
The government on Tuesday emphatically defended Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien,saying he had never been an accused in the Suryanelli rape case in Kerala 17 years ago,amidst a walkout from the CPM members who questioned the propriety of the government in speaking for an officer of the legislature.
The CPM later said it would not allow Kurien to preside over the House whenever a woman-centric matter came up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha.
Before the minister began his statement,CPMs Sitaram Yechury raised a point of order questioning the governments effort to defend Kurien. The centrality of the Indian Constitution is entirely being undermined by the government standing up to the defence of the Officer of the Legislature which is an independent authority in our Constitution. So where is the separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature? The moment the Executive defends the legislature,the Legislature becomes compromised to the Executive, Yechury said,before leading a walkout by his party MPs.
Yechury later told reporters that governments defence of Kurien amounted to an interference in the independence of the legislature.
The Deputy Chairman must himself make a statement. The government cannot make a statement on his behalf defending him. When the government makes such a statement,the distinction between the independence of legislature and executive gets blurred and violates the Constitution, he said.
Yechury said Kurien must not discharge his responsibilities as deputy chairman till he is cleared by law and courts. It is untenable for him to continue, he said.
