MP CM hints at 'maut vrat' over state Special Courts Bill

Bhopal, Jan 25: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has hinted at undertaking a ‘maun vrat’ (vow of silence), if the Centre does not give assent to the MP Special Courts Bill soon.

Chouhan told this to reporters at Mantralaya (state secretariat) here yesterday, before he left for Delhi to meet Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, to whom, he had already written a letter in this regard.

Chouhan said that if the Centre delays in giving assent to the MP Special Courts Bill any further, he might observe a ‘maun vrat’.

According to sources, even as Chidambaram has assured Chouhan of necessary action, the latter said that he might undertake ‘maun vrat’ only after waiting for some time.

Asserting that the Bill is necessary for a speedy trial of corruption cases, Chouhan said that he failed to understand why the Centre was delaying the assent of the Bill in Madhya Pradesh, when a similar Bill in Bihar had already been passed and came into force.

Chouhan had met President Pratibha Patil on January 22 over the issue.

Terming the chief minister’s decision as “ridiculous”, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ajay Singh said that corruption could not be curbed through a Special Court Act, as there is no dearth of anti-corruption laws in the state. He said that strong willpower is necessary to deal with corruption.

“There is no dearth of laws in the state for checking corruption. One needs a strong willpower to end the corruption and not the Special Courts Act,” Ajay Singh said in a statement issued last evening.

He asked whether there was no law in the state today, through which, the Chief Minister could curb corruption.

PTI