In the haystack?

After allegations that conversations of key political figures were tapped,the opposition has,expectedly,raised hell. L.K. Advani wrote an eloquent blogpost comparing this to Emergency-style repression,and arguing for strong protective legislation to check such surveillance. Now,the opposition is agitating for a joint parliamentary committee to investigate the issue.

This comes close on the heels of a demand for another JPC,to probe the IPL-BCCI tangle. JPCs,put together from both Houses to investigate matters of highest national importance,are rare affairs. Though they are widely perceived as the last word in rigour and impartiality,there have only been four such instances over the Bofors scandal,over the two stock market scams in 1992 and 2001,over the cola-pesticides row in 2003. In a climate where national investigation and enforcement authorities are considered manipulable,JPCs are advocated for a neutral scrutiny. But,as the Bofors case shows,there is no guarantee that the JPCs verdict should be the last word on a politically flammable issue. As investigation goes,whether on phone tapping or the IPL,surely it is better to rely on organisations with the skills,the training and the explicit responsibility to hunt for wrongdoing.

Parliament,of course,reserves the right to weigh in on any matter it sees to be of concern. But the way the two Houses have been paralysed by serial demands for a JPC,a rarely used instrument and one that has never really been seen to have delivered adequate results,is cause for disquiet. Given that the clock is ticking on this Budget Session of Parliament and that many important bills are pending,the opposition would inspire more confidence if they facilitated discussion in the House on issues agitating them,instead of forcing repeat adjournments. Parliament is a forum where the executive is held to account. By reflexively falling upon a constant refrain that too on a demand that has uncertain utility opposition MPs fail to show the inventiveness needed to keep the big conversations moving in our legislatures.