Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday expressed concern over the nature of political discourse witnessed in the past few years and called for fast-tracking of criminal cases against politicians.
Mr Naidu was speaking at the Hyderabad Management Association’s 46th Annual Awards 2018 where he handed out awards under various categories.
“Criminal cases against politicians must be decided quickly by special benches of the High Courts in a time-bound manner. If need be, separate benches may be set up to expedite such cases within six months, or one year,” he said, as he suggested that the government and judiciary enter into a dialogue and find common ground to deal with such cases.
The Vice-President pointed out that leaders should be selected on the basis of four Cs: character, calibre, capacity and conduct and not on lines of caste, community, cash and criminality. Touching upon the nature of political discourse, Mr Naidu said that criticism and accusations are acceptable. However, abuse is not. “It is a matter of concern that political discourse is seeing a new low in the recent years. We should reverse this trend at the earliest with a credible opposition as it is an extension of a healthy democracy,” he said.
Mr Naidu said that legislatures are becoming disruptive platforms instead of being effective fora for debates. This ‘growing policy’, he said, is an ‘affront’ to the spirit of the Constitution of India and reflects an apathy towards hopes and aspirations of the people. The Vice-President said that organisations like HMA should serve as a bridge, connecting government, industry and academia. Sharing of information and best practices between public and private sectors will help them grow.
Mr. Naidu handed out the awards to IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan under the Manager of the Year – 2018 category and former bureaucrat M Gopalakrishna under the Member of the Year Award -2018. Awards under other categories too were presented.