Press Briefing
Wednesday, 9th March 2011
Shri Manish Tewari addressed the media today.
On the question of reaction of the Congress
party over running of parallel courts in the
country, Shri Tewari said, as has been reported
in some news reports on Monday, a parallel
judicial system in the name of Arbitrary
Tribunals was running in a big city of India and
according to that report, witnesses are summoned
and judgments pronounced. Shri Tewari further
said that on an enquiry it was also revealed
that the judgments so pronounced in such courts,
are implemented through the hired goons. Shri
Tewari added that such parallel courts are a
great threat to the democracy and had even
raised this issue in Lok Sabha also today to
sternly deal with the issue.
To another question on the power sharing between
DMK and the Congress party in Tamil Nadu, Shri
Tewari said that as far as power sharing is
concerned, power sharing will be discussed and
decided once the results of assembly elections
in Tamil Nadu are out.
On a further question as to whether there will
be a joint manifesto since the Congress party is
contesting elections in West Bengal with
Trinamool Congress, Shri Tewari said it would be
difficult for me to really react off the bat to
that question but Yes, I think you raised
something which is both important and
reasonable. Let me check and get back to you on
this that what exactly is the thinking and how
that thinking is going to be play out.
On another question whether the Congress party
will follow the model of Tamil Nadu in case of
West Bengal also, Shri Tewari said coalition has
its own compulsions and every political party
intends to expand its ground base and since
talks are on with Trinamool Congress, it would
not be appropriate to comment on it unless it is
finalized.
In this connection Shri Tewari further said that
coalition is about compromises. What makes a
coalition works is the ability of both sides to
be flexible. So, therefore, I do not think that
there is any message, explicit or implied that
we intended to send out. There is an attempt by
every political party to increase its space and
that is based upon the aspirations which come up
from the ground. So, considering these
realities, I think, even as we go into alliance
discussions in other states, we would definitely
try our best to maximize the amount of space
that we can get while being cognizant about the
fact that you need to be flexible in order for
the alliance to work.
On the reaction of the Congress party over the
remarks on the functioning of Delhi Police in
view of the recent incidents, Shri Tewari said
it is very unfortunate what has happened in
Delhi yesterday that an innocent Delhi
University student was shot dead. It needs to be
condemned in strongest possible words. As far as
maintenance of law and order is concerned, it is
the responsibility of Delhi Police
administration and further said that we cannot
analyze the functioning of the Delhi Police by
taking an isolated incident. We hope Delhi
Police will act swiftly and bring to book the
culprit. We should also not forget that this is
the same Delhi Police who had efficiently
discharged their responsibility during the
recently concluded Commonwealth Games.
In this regard, Shri Tewari further added that
with regard to what should be the larger
constitutional arrangements in terms of how
Delhi needs to be governed, I think, it is a
fairly complex issue and if there would have
been an easy solution to it, I think, over the
years, we would have been able to find a
solution to it. The fact that there is a
bifurcated responsibility or even a trifurcated
responsibility in a certain sense of the world,
itself goes to show that when you are
administering the national capital and this is
not only true about Delhi, this is also true
about other national capitals in other parts of
the world also. There is a complex issue of
jurisdiction and constitutionality, and in so
far as responsibility is concerned, I completely
agree that incumbent police force has to take
responsibility. There is no running away from
that responsibility but again I would like to
caveat by saying that let us not make one
incident a benchmark to actually evaluate
success or failure or sensitivity of the police
force.
On another question on the accountability of the
Chief Minister of Delhi in the above case when
compared to issue of the appointment of CVC with
relation to statement of the Prime Minister in
the House, Shri Tewari said I think what is most
important is that here you had an appointment
process which was extensively scrutinized by the
Supreme Court and if you read Supreme Court
judgment carefully, it has not ascribed any
motives. They have not cast or passed any
strictures on the High Powered Committee or the
Members of the High Powered Committee. There is
a distinction between a bonafide error and a
malafide error and the Court has not found that
there were any malafides to the whole process.
The Prime Minister has very squarely and very
honourably taken the responsibility. He has said
in response to a question that Yes, if at all
anybody is accountable, I am accountable and I
do not think the PM has tried to pass the buck
on to anybody. It was in response to certain
queries that he explained as to how the process
works. Now, if that is misinterpreted by some
people to suggest that he was trying to pass the
buck on to anybody to somebody else, after he
had squarely taken responsibility, not only in
Parliament but even before that in Jammu, then
it is complete erroneous read of the situation.
(Tom Vadakkan)
Secretary, AICC
