How astonishing that law makers should become law breakers. They may not do so intentionally and nobody would be ready to attribute motives to their defaulting behaviour, nevertheless, one expects the elected representatives of the people who have the privilege of making laws for the land have not declared their assets and liability details to the House Secretariat before 26 September the last date for making such submissions. Among the defaulters are no less a person than Rahul Gandhi, L.K. Advani and others. The declaration of property etc. is desired under Assets and Liability Declaration Rules 2004, Provisions 5 and 6, and the Representation of the People Act 1951, Section 75 (A). An MP is required to make the declaration of his assets and liabilities within 90 days of his or her election as MP. This has not been adhered to by the representatives concerned. We don’t think that the House Secretariat needed to send reminders to the defaulting legislators to submit their declaration. An MP once elected needs to know all the do’s and don’ts of the job. Ignorance of law is no excuse and they cannot find alibi in ignorance. They have set example for the people they lead. 400 MPs who have not submitted their declarations constitute 75 per cent of the total strength of the Parliamentarians in our country. This is a reflection on them. What message will it give to the bureaucracy, the Government functionaries and the public in general? Charity begins at home. Interestingly, the defaulters come from almost all mainstream national parties and other smaller groups. We would suggest that House Secretariat should publish a booklet as guide for all MPs keeping them informed on do’s and don’ts. This booklet should be issued to each MP at the time of oath taking ceremony. There should be no need for the Secretariat to send reminders to them. It is there duty to complete all formalities set forth in the guidebook. Again it is also important that action against the defaulter has to be taken in accordance with the law. They cannot have immunity in case they violate the law.
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