No need for select panel, withdraw ordinance: BJP leader to Rajasthan govt

Jaipur: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ghanshyam Tiwari on Tuesday asked the Vasundhara Raje-government to withdraw the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance.

"There is no need for a select committee to reconsider it," Tiwari said, while urging the government to retract the bill.

Amid protests, Rajasthan sends 'gag' ordinance to Assembly select committee

The former state education minister also said that the controversial law should not be passed as it would shield the open loot of the ministers and public servants.

"The law will shield the open loot of the chief minister, ministers, and public servants. The Government will now take a decision on the ordinance and the chairman will be the minister who projected this bill," Tiwari, who was issued a notice for anti-party activities by BJP in May this year, said.

The Rajasthan government, in the current legislative session, passed an ordinance that protects both serving and former judges, magistrates and public servants in the state from being investigated for on-duty action without prior sanction.

The ordinance also sought to bar the media from reporting on accusations against judges and bureaucrats till the sanction to proceed with the probe is obtained.

The ordinance is an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.