R K Misra on the Modi government and free speech - Legal leash: Rat In, Cat Out
Tallest trees dread thunder the most. No wonder personal
freedom is anathema to the power placed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no
different. As Chief Minister of Gujarat, he was ever ready to stick a knife
into anything remotely resembling a Sonia-Singh led Centre. Now sitting in the
hot seat himself, with a majority to match, he is no better than his
predecessors. Actually he is worse.
Fast on the ‘tweetstake’ opposing section 66A of the
Information and Technology Act brought in by the UPA in 2006 and
passed December 22, 2008, the BJP (read Modi, for he decides) when in
power did a complete U-turn. Challenged in the Supreme Court by a 24-year-old
Shreya Singhal, the Modi government favoured retaining the Section.
A stunning slap from the Supreme Court later, both the Congress and the BJP now
sit red-faced, dishing out lame duck laments. The offensive piece of
legislation, which authorised police to make arrests for any social media posts
it deemed offensive, has been struck down.
A Goan gentleman who had posted a Facebook comment against
Modi last year was hauled over the coals by the cops after one of his highly
placed sympathisers lodged a police complaint under the Act. There have been
numerous other similar cases to curb dissent in Gujarat where speaking against
Modi was treated as a statement against Gujarat by official organs of the
state.
Modi’s men, however, are back at work. While attention
stands riveted to Delhi and the dust kicked up by the Land Acquisition Bill
refuses to settle down, in his own homeland Gujarat, a determined attempt is on
to impose another draconian law, which truly invites comparisons to the
Emergency era. A legacy of Modi rule in Gujarat, the Gujarat Control of
Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Act, which was twice rejected by successive Presidents
of the Indian Union, has now been tabled in the Gujarat Assembly in a new
avtaar. It is called the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime
(GCTOC) Bill 2015. The Modi government in Gujarat had to eat crow when GUJCOC
twice passed by the state Assembly was returned by one President after
another.
All acts of the over a decade-long Modi era in Gujarat —
good, bad or ugly — are sought to be revisited again, this time with a
vengeance, now that he rules India. This proposed legislation in question is
all encompassing in its sweep, and arms the police with unbridled powers to tap
personal phones without permission and detain people without following standard
procedures.
A man is known by his deeds and the present Prime Minister’s
past battles against Indira Gandhi- imposed curbs notwithstanding, the record
does not portend well for the future. As was the precedent during the Modi rule
in Gujarat, all contentious issues were brought up on the last day and neatly
pushed through after a protesting Opposition had been ordered out. So was it
this time as well. The GCTOC bill will be taken up on the last day of the
ongoing Budget session, March 31.
The Bill, which has a provision for death penalty and fine
of Rs 10 lakh empowers phone intercepts and its admissibility as evidence in
courts. Same applies to confessions extracted by the police. Most importantly,
it upturns the law to put the onus of proving one’s innocence on the accused.
“The Special Courts shall presume, unless it is proven to the contrary, that
the accused has committed such offence”, the Bill states. The statement of
Objects and Reasons says, “It was considered necessary to enact a special law
with stringent provisions, including the power to intercept wire, electronic or
oral communication.” Did the draconian laws enacted during the Emergency, which
the BJP fought tooth and nail, not say the same? Then where is the dividing
line between the oppressor and the oppressed? Is it only a role reversal?
The GUJCOC Bill, which came up post 2002 Godhra train
carnage and communal riots, was passed by the state Assembly in 2004 during the
Modi rule. He needed a powerful tool to curb and control dissent unrestrained,
more so after POTA. It was, however, returned by President APJ Abdul Kalam who
had objected to clause 14 pertaining to interception of communication and
ordered it to be removed. In 2008, the Bill was again passed by the state
Assembly after removing the clause, but retaining the clause for confessions
before police as admissible evidence.
In 2008, President Pratibha Patil returned the Bill. In
2009, Modi again passed the Bill ignoring the suggestions made by the President
and the matter awaits his decision. Meanwhile, choosing not to let sleeping
dogs lie, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, without any provocation, has
suddenly woken up to bring in an amended Bill in the state Assembly. It brings
back the bulk of the clauses deleted earlier. This defiance of authority is a
hallmark of the Modi style. Ironically, he himself has no stomach for
disagreement, let alone defiance. Would Chief Minister Anandiben Patel have the
courage to bring back the Bill without a tacit nod from the top? Unlikely.
GUJCOC was sought to be enacted after the draconian Prevention
of Terrorism Act(POTA) enacted by the NDA government in 2002 was repealed by
the UPA government immediately after coming to power in 2004.POTA itself
had replaced an earlier anti-terrorism law known as the Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities(Prevention) Act-TADA- which was allowed to lapse by the
PV Narasimha Rao government in 1995.
Misuse of draconian laws is a time tested tradition, not
that the lack of it has ever been any hindrance. In just the first three months
of 2013, the Gujarat Police had obtained 90,000 telephone call data records
(CDRs) of people and entities — in most cases, without citing any reason. The
filth had hit the fan when it was realised that the cops were snooping over
fellow cops and other senior administration officials and the wing clipping
exercise began thereafter. Gujarat Director General of Police, Amitabh Pathak
who accidentally stumbled upon this information and sought to curb it, suddenly
passed away while holidaying abroad. That some of these cops who did the
dirty chores are now being rewarded with top postings in central surveillance
and investigation agencies in Delhi, is however, a different matter altogether.
Modi rule in Gujarat is littered with examples when even the
Sangh Parivar leaders were not spared. Ashwin Patel, general secretary of the
Ahmedabad VHP, was picked up on Diwali eve October 29, 2008 and charged with
defamation, sedition, anti-national activities and inciting communal passions.
Patel who was considered close to VHP leader Pravin Togadia had been a marked
man ever since he led the SMS campaign against Modi in the aftermath of LK
Advani’s visit to Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s mazar in 2005 and the Chief Minister’s
support to him during the ruckus kicked up over the issue. Ashwin spent an
extended time in jail before he was finally bailed out after VHP veteran Ashok
Singhal intervened. With Modi in the driver’s seat in Delhi and his one-time
police minister, Amit Shah, now the national party chief, the other members of
the inner core are gradually being fitted into key positions in the mosaic of
the national administration. It would be interesting to watch as the
political chess game unfolds.
