'Oppn to divestment may continue despite SC verdict'

opposition parties would continue to resist disinvestment of psus as a matter of habit despite the landmark judgement of the supreme court on balco, but the government would forge ahead with its policies, disinvestment minister arun shourie has said. people who are in habit of just opposing anything will continue to shout... it is the responsibility of the government to determine what is right for the country, shourie said in an interview. asked if he expected resistance to continue after the apex court judgement upholding balco privatisation, he said, for indian opposition now, it is just a habit. even on terrorism, we can't speak in one voice. the tendency is to find faults with whoever is in office... on kargil, it was the same thing... so, poor disinvestment is such a small marble. nevertheless, shourie exuded confidence in pursuing the disinvestment policy with a vigour saying that the judgement would make it more difficult for those who were using courts to stall economic reforms. at the same time, shourie took exception to instances of bureaucratic opposition, saying, the system has become so diffused that anybody writing a letter can stop anything at any stage... and one of the duties of ministers and senior civil servants today is to break that presumption of other that they can stop things because they think nobody has courage to over-rule them on file. dubbing the judgement as significant as its effect was far beyond disinvestment, shourie said, its real significance is that it should be seen as a major step in reversing the so-called progressive judgement of 1970, 1980 and early 1990s of the supreme court. it is to be seen as a result of deep thinking and reflection of court itself on the consequences of progressive judgements which the court has handed out in the past. and for that reason all of us have to be thankful both to the supreme court and to the people who took the case to court and enabled us to argue this point, the minister added. recently there was a judgement on contract labour and earlier there was one on no-work-no-pay, he said, adding the apex court in this case had decided on the ambit of workers' rights making it clear this included the right to agitate about their own conditions and service. but they do not have right to choose their own employer... the principles of natural justice do not come into play in regard to policy decision. this applies to judicial or quasi judicial matters, shourie said, adding workers' approval was not needed for buying or selling shares of companies. asked about chhattisgarh chief minister ajit jogi's earlier allegations including that of kickbacks in balco case, shourie said, that is only political goondaism. i am not talking about a particular individual but it is nothing but that. emphasising that the allegation of lack of transparency or that the decision was taken in a hurry or there has been arbitrary exercise of power were without basis, shourie pointed out that the court had said, it is a matter of regret that on behalf of state of chhattisgarh such allegations against union of india has been laid without any basis. we strongly deprecate such unfounded averments which have been made by an officer of the said state, he said while quipping, what could be a stronger indictment. terming the judgement as a moral victory, he said it would be kept in mind by those who make false allegations and asserted that never evade a war unasked for. i have always believed that whenever difficulties come in the way like strike, debate in parliament or case in court, we should never skirt it. citing the issue of itdc, where its cmd a lohani had questioned the clubbing of airport restaurant with hotel ashok, bangalore, after the government awarded the bid in favour of bharat hotel, shourie said that officials should be over-ruled if they were wrong and worked with presumptions that they could stop the things. they must be over-ruled and in writing on file and in public, and i believe that we have done in the case of itdc. we must signal to them that we will not be deterred by your presumption that you can stop us because you think that if you are over-ruled, then someone will attribute a motive, shourie said.

'Oppn to divestment may continue despite SC verdict'

OPPOSITION parties would continue to resist disinvestment of PSUs as a matter of “habit” despite the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court on Balco, but the government would forge ahead with its policies, disinvestment minister Arun Shourie has ...

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