Former civil servants urge CM Vijay to restore mandate of panel on Union-State relations
CHENNAI The Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), a collective of former civil servants belonging to the All-India Services and Central Services, has urged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to restore the original mandate of the High-Level Committee (HLC) on Union-State Relations to enable it to complete its task of bringing out Part II of its report. “We trust that your government will affirm its commitment to a strong federal democracy, with devolution of powers to local government institutions.
Restoring the original mandate of the High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations will be a welcome step in this direction,” the group said in an open letter signed by 72 former civil servants. The former officials said they found the State government’s decision to discontinue the HLC, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, incomprehensible. They pointed out that Part I of the report had been widely appreciated by Union Ministers, politicians from different political parties, including the BJP, academics, leading public intellectuals, members of the legal fraternity and former civil servants.
They said Part II was to cover several important areas of federal functioning, including emergency provisions, disaster management, inter-State river water disputes, local government, climate change, environment and forests, Union-State legislative and financial relations, the Inter-State Council, the All India Judicial Service, mines and minerals, and Union agencies. Considerable work on these subjects was already under way, they added.
Responding to the State government’s contention that the HLC was non-statutory in nature, the group pointed out that the State Law Commission was also an executive body, established through a government order in 1994 and subsequently reconstituted through executive orders. “There is no bar on a non-statutory body undertaking an inquiry into Centre-State relations and suggesting measures for a healthier and more responsive federal structure.
The Tamil Nadu government had set up the Rajamannar Committee (1969-71), while the Union government had constituted the Sarkaria (1983-88) and Punchhi (2007-10) Commissions for this very purpose through executive orders. Even the Law Commission of India is not a statutory body but only an executive body,” the letter said. The CCG also said transferring the task of preparing Part II of the report from the HLC to the State Law Commission, just six months before the deadline for its submission, was a retrograde step.
“There is every likelihood of a loss of institutional knowledge acquired through the HLC’s research efforts and inconsistencies in constitutional interpretation and analytical approach. An integrated, coherent analysis of the complex issues involved requires a single body applying its mind. The transfer to the State Law Commission will also delay publication,” it said. Referring to the removal of Part I of the HLC’s report from the government website, the group said it found it difficult to discern any compelling justification for the government’s decision.
