Consign nuke deal to 'dustbin of history': Jaya

Chennai, Dec 22: Urging the UPA Government at the Centre to consign the Indo-US nuclear deal to the ''dustbin of history,'' AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today called for a Constitutional amendment to provide for parliamentary ratification of treaties entered into with foreign Governments.

Citing media reports that stringent conditions were being imposed by the United States through backdoor methods on the Indian capacity to enrich Uranium, she said the entire deal was couched in secrecy as far as Parliament and the citizens were concerned.

Under the Constitution of India, there was no requirement for parliamentary ratification of any treaty executed by the Government, whether it was a CTBT, WTO, GATT or tax treaty, she said in a statement here.

Due to this unlimited treaty making power vested in the Executive, it was apprehended that the secrecy involved in negotiating deals like the Indo-American nuclear deal might even lead to partial surrendering of the sovereignty of India, she remarked.

Ms Jayalalithaa said an analysis of 'treaty making power' vis-a-vis ratification process disclosed at least 85 Constitutions around the world providing some check or other.

Even countries like Albania and Yugoslavia had provided for parliamentary ratification of treaties and there was no reason why the Indian people should deny themselves the plenary control of ratification when treaties with grave consequences were being entered into, affecting their fate, she said.

Quoting from former justice V R Krishna Iyer's Constitutional Miscellany, Ms Jayalalithaa said ''the Constitution of the United States (1787), even in its brevity, has had the salutary sagacity to circumscribe the President's treaty.'' ''Due to absence of senate validation, presidentially signed treaties have become casualities. Even many UN instruments slumber without US Senate approbation. For example, CTBT signed by President Bill Clinton was not ratified by the Senate,'' she said.

Even a small state like Nepal had a ratifactory imperative for foreign countries, she added.

Ms Jayalalithaa said in the larger interests of the sovereignty of the country, such important deals had to be closely examined and analysed from all dimensions before finalisation.

''To attribute all that wisdom to selected individuals will be suicidal. Indian history is replete with examples of such 'stabs-in-the-back.' If we do not learn from history, it is going to repeat itself,'' she said.

UNI

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