Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Sunday criticised the functioning of the Parliament, saying there was no clarity in laws, reported Bar and Bench.
“Now we see legislations with lot of gaps, and lot of ambiguity in making laws,” Ramana said at the Independence Day ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association. “We don’t know for what purpose are the laws being made which is creating a lot of litigation, inconvenience and loss to the government and inconvenience to the public.”
The Monsoon Session of Parliament, which ended two days before its schedule on August 11, saw several disruptions as the government and the Opposition reached an impasse over discussion on allegations that the Pegasus spyware was used to spy on several politicians, journalists and activists in India.
The government refused to hold discussions on the allegations of surveillance, while the Opposition has repeatedly insisted on deliberating on the matter. The Opposition accused the government of “suppressing their voice” by not allowing a discussion on the matter. They also criticised the government for “bulldozing Bills” without a proper discussion.
The Rajya Sabha recorded a productivity of 28% during the session, reported ANI. As many as 17 sittings were held in the House that functioned for 28 hours and 21 minutes. Disruptions caused a loss of 76 hours and 26 minutes. Nineteen Bills were passed in the Upper House.
The productivity of the Lok Sabha stood at 22% as it could function for only 21 hours and 14 minutes, while it was supposed to sit for 96 hours during the session, Speaker Om Birla said. This was in sharp contrast to the last Budget session when the Lower House recorded 114% productivity. As many as 20 Bills were passed during the session.
On Sunday, Ramana compared the function of the Parliament to earlier times, when, according to him, legislations were discussed and elaborated.
He pointed out that members of Parliament during the early years after the independence were lawyers. “Debates back then in the Houses were very constructive,” he said, reported NDTV. “I saw the debates over financial bills and very constructive points were made. Laws were discussed and deliberated. One had a clear picture of the legislative part of the law.”
The chief justice added: “So the burden of the courts while interpreting or implementing the law was less. So the legislative part was clear with respect to what they want to tell us. Why they are making such a legislation. Now it is a sorry state of affairs, now we see legislation with sorry state of affairs.”
He said that one reason for it was that good lawyers were not contributing to law-making. Ramana then urged lawyers to actively participate in the process.
“Don’t confine yourselves to earning money and living comfortably,” he said. “I hope and expect you will contribute your knowledge and experience to the country.”
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