Vasundhara Raje Shows Signs of Rethink over Controversial Ordinance

File image of Vasundhara Raje. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: After facing criticism from various quarters, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is having a rethink over the controversial ordinance that seeks to shield serving and former judges, magistrates and public servants from being investigated for on-duty actions without prior sanction.

Raje met her ministers at her residence in Jaipur on late Monday evening to decide the further course of action.

Sources told News18 that two options were discussed in the meeting. The government can either send the bill to a select committee of the Assembly or withdraw it through the minister who had introduced it in the House. These are the only two ways forward, since the bill once being introduced is a property of the Assembly.

On Monday, a petition was filed in the Rajasthan High Court against the order. The plea asked the HC to declare the ‘The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017’ as violative of the Constitution. It says this new law would not only throttle the freedom of press but also “subvert the wisdom of judiciary.”

The petitioner has submitted that the ordinance affects the Right to Life of an individual. “The ordinance takes away the fundamental rights of the petitioner of fair investigation as well as equality. Fair investigation is the part of fundamental right to life,” reads the petition.

There have been several protests against the ordinance. Two MLAs from the ruling BJP government protested against the new ordinance on Monday by terming it “a black law” and a “legislation that seeks to grant immunity to the corrupt”.