CHANDIGARH: Gurbir Singh, a former General Secretary of Punjab Congress1 has made an impassioned plea for writing off the 59th Constitutional Amendment and similar retroactive laws. In a letter to all members of Parliament, he cautioned them that by Not raising their voice against the amendment, they would be condemning generations to misery and fear.
If an authorities system takes root in India, history would hold the eighth parliament responsible, he added,
Ina well-argued document, Gurbir Singh, who has also challenged the amendment in the Punjab and Haryana high court, said democracy could not survive without its inalienable right s and equal, consistent laws
The 59th amendment had placed the executive above the law.
The amendment was hanging like a sword of Damocles on the lives and liberties of the citizens, he said.
He expressed the apprehension that the executive might misuse the power vested in it by the amendment to cancel national elections, the very life line of the political system.
‘The laws will then not be confirmed only to Punjab, he added. His major objection is that the government could suspend the right to life and liberty by invoking the amendment, by declaring an internal emergency in Punjab, in view of disturbed conditions in the State.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 21, 1989
