Leaving aside the timing, merits/demerits of Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar’s arrest for allegedly submitting fake degrees, the episode proves that today’s leaders perceive values as something that are a disposable commodity especially if the price is right (“ >Delhi Minister held for holding fake degree ”, June 10). For them, all this is acceptable, at the expense of morality, ethics and honesty. A through investigation is also needed to find out how many more politicians hold such fake degrees.
R. Venkateswaran,
Chennai
There cannot be any second opinion that the law ought to take its own course notwithstanding allegations by the AAP of political vendetta or witch-hunting. At the same time, there is a need to look at the larger perspective. Since June 2002, the Election Commission of India has made it mandatory for all prospective candidates to furnish duly sworn-in attested affidavits which also include their educational qualifications “to be verified by the returning officers by way of a summary inquiry at the time of scrutiny of nomination papers”. In the case of wrong or incomplete information or suppression of facts, it was to become a ground for the rejection of nomination papers apart from inviting penal provisions.
But the ECI, in revised instructions issued in 2003, did away with the provision of such an inquiry by the Returning Officer. It is strange. There is no rationale in making the filing of affidavits mandatory unless these are to be duly scrutinised.
The provision for holding a summary inquiry to assess the authenticity of information in the affidavits, and in the event of such information being misleading/wrong, a rejection of nomination papers, are both a must. Currently, under Section 125A of Representation of Peoples’ Act, giving such wrong information or concealing something will lead to imprisonment for up to six months or a fine or both, but it does not result in rejection of nomination forms. There is an urgent need for effecting the necessary statutory amendments.
Hemant Kumar,
Ambala, Haryana
This is not the first time we have come across such charges being levelled against political bigwigs and Ministers. After all, the Union Minister of HRD as well as the junior Minister in the same ministry have also been alleged to have submitted controversial and contradictory information regarding their educational qualifications! The only difference in the latest episode is that while Mr. Tomar has been arrested without notice as he belongs to the AAP, and the party which made the BJP bite dust in the Delhi election, the two Union Ministers have been spared this fate for obvious reasons.
Tharcius S. Fernando,
Chennai
Making due allowances for the contentions that there are genuine grounds for criminal investigation; the Delhi police have not done anything outside the rule book, and that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal perhaps needs some clipping of his wings, still, it is clear that the arrest smacks of excessive alacrity and is indicative of vengefulness. The BJP government must show greater statesmanship in dealing with political opponents and resist falling victim to authoritarian temptations. It must not forget that the AAP government carries the overwhelming mandate of the people of Delhi, and that, in India, the people, whatever their political preferences, do not tolerate fascistic tendencies.
A.N. Lakshmanan,
Bengaluru
