Imlisanen Jamir
While public attention is mostly focused on the change in the special status of Jammu and Kashmir; the 17th Lok Sabha has been record breaking in its transaction of legislative business.
The Parliament, in its first session after the 17th Lok Sabha elections, has set a new record of passing a record 36 bills in a single session, including historic ones such as Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 and Triple Talaq.
The Modi government has an overpowering majority in the Lok Sabha—a mandate achieved through a democratic process. This gives it the imperative and entitlement to push forth its ideological and legislative agenda.
However, the need for proper parliamentary debate and scrutiny is an essential feature of the constitutional structure. As much as we loath the bureaucratic snail-like pace of the legislative process and want our lawmakers to be proactive and efficient, when legislation is introduced into Parliament and passed within a few weeks or even days, questions arise whether it was possible for Parliament fully to analyse and debate the proposals put before it.
The constraints that fast-tracking places on the scrutiny process also raise the question of whether the quality of the legislation that follows suffers as a result.
Debate is an important principle of participative democracy. The faster legislation is put through without prior notice, the more difficult it is for people outside Parliament, let alone parliamentarians, to express a view on the proposed legislation, and that is very regrettable.
In addition, public access to the legislative process is also virtually impossible—the ability of outside organisations, pressure groups and individuals to comment becomes non-existent.
Another factor to keep in mind is what might be termed as the "something must be done" syndrome. The desire to legislate rapidly may be a response to an event of current prominence in the media. It may be difficult to separate the need for rapid legislation from the government's interest in being seen to respond decisively to current issues. The policy behind such legislation will at best be ill-thought out and at worst may be motivated by political objectives to be 'seen' to be responding to an event or judgment.
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