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President Gopala Naik was one of the finest and astute Presidents the country had witnessed in the recent past. His commitment to duty and his prescience of danger was unparalleled to even the most seasoned politicians around. Honour and respect found him easily, and he had a commanding voice over the executive. Naik was not a politician by trade. He was too sincere to be one. He was an astronomer and physicist who played a major role in Chandrayaan missions, as well as the Gaganyaan missions.
But, as he was strolling this morning in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in one of his usual leisurely walks, Naik, a stubby man in composition, had a troubled look on his face, an unusual demeanour for the otherwise jovial fellow. The cause of much anxiety emerged from recent events. A bench ruled by the Supreme Court had, six days ago, overturned the basic structure doctrine of the Indian Constitution. What was even more concerning to Naik was that his Prime Minister, Sashikala Banerjee relayed that the cabinet, and her party, had unanimously decided on a course correction for the nation, which was, according to her, long needed. She proposed a far-reaching overhaul of the constitution and that the government intends on introducing a constitution amending bill in the parliament which, among other things, removed 'India' from Article 1, made Hindi a national language, and greatly restructured Part III of the Constitution. This had shaken Naik's conscience. He strongly protested with Banerjee that he could not possibly assent to such a bill. But she had insisted that he was bound to assent to bills emanating from the parliament.
As he strolled around the luxuriant gardens, in this sunny but pleasant morning, Naik, besmirched in guilt, embarrassment, and a profound sense of helpless, weighed his options. He was stuck in a Gordian knot, but could manage to conjure a few options. One, to refer the matter to the Supreme Court as a special reference. That was, however, pointless as K. T. Ramalingam, the current Chief Justice, would side with the government given the recent ruling that the parliament had an unrestrained power to amend the constitution. The second option was to call for a special sitting of the parliament and for him to chair the sitting and openly speak his mind about the dangerous course of these proposed amendments. That was an option to consider, although it was tricky constitutionally whether he can exercise such a discretion. To be presidential, for all pageantries and platitudes that accompany the role, is nothing but playing a character in a script over which the actor has no creative liberty whatsoever. The position is just placed to fill the transcendent nominal space in constitutional law, much like the Rex or Regina in England. A famous adage that he read in Oxford came to his mind. One married a Duke more for the status than the pleasure. Seemed like it is apt in the context of becoming a President in India too, more for the status than the pleasure. Naik decided on a third option. Given the severity of the proposed amendments, and the radical nature of the changes, Naik will send the bill for reconsideration to Parliament. The President has to assent if the bill comes to him a second time, there's no way out. But.... he will resign when it comes to him the second time, and write a letter that he cannot, in good, conscience sign the bill. That will, even if not stop the bill from becoming a law, will atleast greatly cast aspersions on its legitimacy and validity by all moral and ethical standards, if not legal standards. Yes, that is what Naik will do! Great plan!!
As he turned to enter the central dome back to his residence, with a smile having returned to his earlier morose face, the poor Naik did not know that he will die of a stroke within 15 hours. Nay, he will be killed within 15 hours, and the world will be made to believe that it was a stroke.
Previous chapters:
1: https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/237313-chapter-1-the-overthrow#comment-237313
2: https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/237709-chapter-2-the-persuasion#comment-237709
3: https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/238910-chapter-3-the-resistance#comment-238910