Dr. Subramanian Swamy has written a letter (9 July 2015) to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in which he has criticised the law officers of the Government of India. It is pertinent to mention that the Attorney General (AG), Solicitor General (SG) and Additional Solicitor Generals (ASG) are jointly called “law officers” of the Central Government. They generally represent the Union of India in the Supreme Court and high courts. Dr. Swamy has cited 4 specific instances to criticise the role played by the law officers.
He criticised the stand taken by the law officers on behalf of the Union of India against deletion of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, observing that it was an undemocratic provision that was introduced in law by the previous UPA Government. It is noteworthy that Section 66A of the IT Act provided for punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc., and recently the Supreme Court struck down this section as being unconstitutional, in spite of the fact that the Central Government had supported this section.
Dr. Swamy has also criticised the role of the Attorney General Shri Mukul Rohatgi during his arguments in the hearing of validity of National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) before a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court. In particular, he was sceptical of the personal remarks made by the AG against a former lady judge (Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra) during the said hearing. [Also read: Government not likely to approve Justice Gyan Sudha Misra as Chairperson of appellate tribunal under SAFEMA.]
Dr. Swamy further referred to the Government’s opposition to his petition before the Supreme Court for decriminalising the defamation law (Sections 499 and 500 of IPC). He has cautioned the Government that the Supreme Court may disregard the Government’s opposition on this issue, as it did in the case of Section 66A of IT Act and may declare the criminal law relating to defamation as unconstitutional.[Also read: Government supports defamation laws in Supreme Court, says defamation laws cannot be scraped.]
Lastly, Dr. Swamy criticised Shri Manindar Singh, ASG, for his casual and dilatory approach in dealing with his petition for providing more amenities to the Ram Bhaktas who go to Ayodhya for darshan of Ram Lala. Dr. Swamy says that the ASG has been taking adjournments after adjournments though the court was willing to give an expeditious hearing.
Dr. Swamy has claimed credit, in the said letter to the PM, for being one of the key persons who laid the foundation for the victory of BJP in 2014 Parliamentary elections. He wrote that his anti-corruption agenda helped BJP get that grand victory.
