SC raps govt over tainted ministers

NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh government’s reluctance to address the issue of tainted ministers came in for mild rebuke from the Supreme Court. The apex court said the government should not hedge the important issue of inclusion of tainted ministers in the government.

A three-judge bench comprising chief justice YK Sabharwal, justice CK Thakker and justice PK Balasubramaniyan gave the Centre and state governments two weeks to file their response.

“The Centre and states are directed to file their affidavits, taking a positive stand one way or the other on the points raised by the petitioner, particularly with regard to appointments of ministers in the Cabinet, be it at the Centre or states,” the court said.

In other words, the Centre and states should address the issue in a proper perspective and a morally tenable view should be taken. The court said that a five-member Constitution bench would hear the matter after affidavits are filed by the Centre and states.

During the last hearing in the public-interest litigation (PIL), the apex court had shredded the UPA government’s by-now-familiar “the ministers facing criminal charges should be presumed innocent till pronounced guilty” explanation.

The court, which insisted on the need for ethically acceptable behaviour, had made it clear that the government’s explanation was unacceptable. “Does that assumption of innocence come into play while making other such sensitive appointments? Can a person facing rape charges be appointed as a judge or an election commissioner?” the court had asked.

The court was in agreement with amicus curiae Rakesh Dwivedi’s argument that the matter was serious and needed serious examination, and said that “the presumption of innocence is one side of the coin, the other being that a trial court, by framing charges against the person, has found a prima facie case against him”.

The PIL had sought the dismissal of Union ministers Lalu Yadav, Shibu Soren, Mohammad Taslimuddin and M A A Fatmi as they face serious criminal charges. However, the court had deleted the names of the ministers from the list of respondents on March 23.