More than insane, it is dangerous:  The proposed bill to introduce a Prosecution Commission to limit the powers of the office of the DPP seems like another attack on our constitution. It is yet another instance of how the government is continuously nibbling into powers which are outside the grip of the Political Executive. The speed and heavy-handedness with which this bill is being pushed through should sound alarm bells in every nook and corner of this country.

The debate surrounding the bill is, however, likely to be drowned in legal jargon and propaganda, making it difficult for the laymen we are to apprehend that it is a direct attack on the judicial process. When we start asking questions, a horde of proponents will crawl out of the woodwork and repeat the same argument: that the DPP is a ‘constitutional monster’, that he is partial and that he has too many powers which he does not have to account for. They will repeat this often enough to create the right dose of confusion to allow them to get away with a dangerous law.

First, let’s debunk the myth that the DPP is not accountable for his decisions. Absolute nonsense! Any aggrieved person can ask for a review of his decision and the Supreme Court will then rule. In the Betamax case, for example, the DPP’s decision could have been challenged by the commissioner of police himself if he did not agree with it. The DPP, moreover, explained that the whole investigation was based on one document – unsigned – presented by a minister and that the case had been sent back to the police by the office of the DPP twice before it was finally reexamined.

Instead of using the Supreme Court and having judges take fair and impartial decisions in the good tradition of our judiciary on matters of justice, the government is opting for butchering the constitution and appointing retired judges, at the risk of creating a parallel court of justice.  

Behind the government’s fixation on continuously pouncing on the constitution (with retroactive effect, if you please!) lie sinister motives. One of them is an obsession with putting political opponents behind bars. The fishing expedition they went on right after the election was unprecedented in this country! And any excuse was good enough. In almost every single case, when the charges were not dropped by the DPP, the court dropped them and, at times, the magistrate gave the police a good thrashing for arresting people without any valid reason. Should we maybe have another Prosecution Commission for the courts as well?

But more than punishing political opponents, the proposed bill and the speed with which it is being shoved down the throat of the population is very suspicious. The government wants the bill up and running by March and they want to review the decisions taken by the DPP over the last two years. Why such haste? Could it have something to do with the upcoming MedPoint case?  

Our constitution has until now ensured that power is checked and balanced to thwart would-be autocrats. You will have noticed that this is the third time a bill has been presented with one clear motive: to nibble away powers from the judiciary and bestow them upon politicians and their cronies, with little regard for the signal they are sending to the population, to the youth and particularly to investors who thrive on certainty and hate this constant change of rules. Is it any wonder that they are running away faster than their shadows!

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