Cabinet to decide fate of controversial ordinance before October 2

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues are expected to relook at the controversial Ordinance on convicted politicians before President Pranab Mukherjee leaves for Brazil on October 2.


A decision is likely to be taken before October 2 evening since the President will be out of Delhi till October 8, a Congress leader said. “The party is keen to bring the issue to a closure soon,” said the leader, who did not wish to be named. Before Congress VP Rahul Gandhi on Friday rubbished the ordinance, describing it as “nonsense” and saying it should be “torn up and thrown out”, Rashtrapati Bhawan had sent out clear signals that it was not comfortable with the ordinance. After a BJP delegation visited him and appealed against its ratification, President Mukherjee had summoned three senior ministers – Sushil Kumar Shinde, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal – and sought clarifications. The President had also consulted legal experts on the Constitutional tenability of the Cabinet proposal.