The judiciary’s “off the cuff” remarks, of late, have not gone down well with the Centre. A week after the Supreme Court compared the Environment Ministry to ‘Kumbhakarn’ for the delay caused in deciding the fate of hydro power projects in Uttarakhand and its remarks in the recent past reminding the Government of the need for a leader of Opposition in parliamentary democracy, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said such remarks sometimes hurt and make Government sad.
Speaking at the foundation day function of the National Green Tribunal presided by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, a judge of the Supreme Court, Javadekar expressed his angst over two recent remarks that directly concerned him as he held the twin portfolios of Environment and Parliamentary Affairs.
“At times off the cuff (remarks) come and it is for judiciary to think about it. Sometimes it hurts unnecessarily," Javadekar said, referring to the 'Kumbhakarna' remark. “Parso meine suna hum kumbhakaran ho gaye…hum kumbhakaran kahan ho gaye (last day I heard we have become like Kumbhakaran…where have we become like Kumbhakaran)," said the Minister. He spoke about the steps being taken by the Government on war footing to address all issues related to cleaning of River Ganga.
He said he was a "bit sad" when the Supreme Court questioned the government on why it was not open to having leader of Opposition. “Judiciary, Executive and Parliament are three pillars (of the Constitution). All three are independent from each other... All three have well defined duties. And if they function properly, we will do justice to the country.... And to that end I can promise, with cooperation of all systems in place, we as executive will do our bit to serve the country,” he said.
A week back, the Court had frowned over the failure of Environment Ministry to decide in two months on the fate of 24 hydel projects located on Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers. It called the Ministry 'Kumbhakarna', the mythological character who goes into deep slumber for months and called for an environmental impact assessment report from the Centre at the earliest.
Even on the leader of Opposition issue, Javadekar found fault with the Court's remark emphasising the need of Opposition leader in Parliament. The remark was made two months ago when the Court hinted the Centre that the leader of Opposition is the “other voice” which needs to be respected.
Donning the cap as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Javadekar said, “You require 55 members for claiming loP status in the lok Sabha. If people have not given (the requisite numbers), then what we can do.” He pointed out that in the seventh lok Sabha too, there was no loP but it did not result in hue and cry. “If newspapers write, I can understand. But when you hear this from judiciary then you feel a bit sad,” Javadekar said.