New Delhi: Questioning why the delivery of justice should not be considered an essential service, Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday requested judiciary to consider the issue.
“Are not judicial services essential in this country? Is not delivery of justice essential? This cannot be decided by government because judiciary is an independent entity. I would request judiciary to decide that delivery of justice system is an essential service,” he said during an interaction with journalists through video conferencing.
Pointing to low prices of crude oil, the Congress leader asked the government why the benefits were not being passed on to the public.
“The prices of petrol have come to 20 dollar. The Government is not giving anything to public in the middle of a crisis. It is giving it to its companies. Government should tell why is it not passing on the benefit to public?” the Congress leader questioned.
LIVE: Congress Party briefing by @KapilSibal via video conferencing. https://t.co/ZxfhblFKW6
— Congress Live (@INCIndiaLive) April 25, 2020
Criticising the recent government move on Dearness Allowance (DA), Sibal said: “This is for common man. Don’t do this. Now is the time to think about public.”
The Ministry of Finance on Thursday stopped a hike in dearness allowance (DA) for the central government employees and dearness relief (DR) for the central government pensioners till July next year.
According to the order issued, no arrears will be paid for the period from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
Referring to the lockdown, the Congress leader said: “Lockdown began on March 24 and will continue till May 3. In the midst of all these, economy has been locked out. You can’t have a lockdown of people and a lockout of economy. That’s not the way to formulate a policy. We are not criticising. We are saying that it is time for rethink.”
He also asked the government about its plans for the Health and Education sector after the crisis is over. (ANI)
