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Neerja Chowdhury
NEW DELHI, JAN 6: The President, who's the supreme commander of the defence forces, is learnt to have been merely informed about the Government's decision to dismiss Navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat. And not ``consulted'' even though the issue was of a sensitive nature, involving--as the Government itself said--national security. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is said to have informed K R Narayanan about the Government's decision.
Technically, the Government does not have to consult the President even though the sack order was issued in his name. But there's a growing opinion in political circles that propriety demanded ``consultation'' with the head of state.
Because for one, the President's position as the supreme commander of the forces is a constitutional--not just an administrative--position. This could have an impact on the functioning and morale of the defence forces. Secondly, such a decision has never been taken in the country's history and because it involved ``national security,'' calls for thewidest possible consultations. Especially, when the President's views are sought by the Government in matters more mundane, like the appointment of Vice Chancellors or nominations to the Senate of a central university of which he is the Chancellor.
Thirdly, the President is the head of the Indian parivar in his position as the head of the state. It is for this reason that Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi frequently used to apprise the President of issues before the government and sometimes sought his advice.
Narayanan has himself expressed the view that the Indian Rashtrapati is a working president, somewhere in between the all-powerful US president and the decorative British monarch.
It was Narayanan who had come to the government's aid when a controversy erupted with former Chief Justice M M Punchhi over the appointment of judges. He had suggested a way out by advising that the matter be resolved by referring the issue to the Constitution bench.
Similarly, when V P Singh wanted to changethe governors en masse after taking over as Prime Minister in 1990, R Venkatraman had advised him that a gracious way of doing it would be for the President to write to them individually and suggest they put in their papers in view of a new government taking over, which is what most of them did.
Like many others, Narayanan is also credited with the view that while civilian authority has to be supreme in a democracy, the situation could have been handled differently and defused much earlier. Though Rashtrapati Bhavan is tightlipped about the ongoing controversy, political circles read a meaning into the President receiving Bhagwat soon after his dismissal. This, they feel, was a way of Narayanan expressing his reservations about the way the affair was handled.
After all, this wasn't a courtesy call by an outgoing Navy chief. He had quit amid a raging controversy. Incidentally, the President had kept Bihar Governor S S Bhandari waiting for a week in the hope of an appointment which was not forthcoming afterNarayanan sent back the government's recommendation for Central rule in Bihar.
The Government had made some kind of an attempt to take the opposition parties into confidence about the affair, though as Congress leaders have made clear, they were not told about the Government's intent to dismiss Bhagwat. They had reportedly cautioned the Government against any hasty or rash steps.
In fact, while Parliament was on, Congress leaders had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister after discussing the issue at a morning meeting with Sonia Gandhi. While some felt that the party should press for a discussion on the subject--which at that time was hotting up--others said that given the delicate nature of the issue, the Congress should not go for a discussion.
Some leaders said that Jawaharlal Nehru had allowed a full day's discussion in Parliament when the then chief of staff General Thimayya had put in his papers taking umbrage at a decision of then Defence Minister Krishna Menon. Nehru had managed to holda discussion, assert the supremacy of the civilian authority and yet persuaded Thimayya to take back his resignation.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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