Lokpal: Government has its way, Team Anna cries 'deceit'

The three-month long valiant and unequal fight of Anna Hazare and his team against the government for a strong Lokpal Bill has just gone down the drain. The cabinet, which cleared the government’s version of the bill today, has accepted none of the suggestions of Team Anna. The Prime Minister is exempt from investigation for corruption while in office — one of Anna Hazare’s major demands was to keep that high office in the ambit of the Lokpal. According to the government’s bill, the Prime Minister could be tried only after he or she completes tenure. The higher judiciary also does not come under the proposed Lokpal. The civil society had sought an 11-member Lokpal where junior officials too would have powers to deal with certain cases. The government’s bill rejects that. It proposes an eight-member panel, including the chairperson, half of which would be from the judiciary. The chairperson would be serving or retired chief justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court. The Lokpal will have its own prosecution and investigation wing with officers and staff necessary to carry out its functions. [caption id=“attachment_50107” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Team Anna’s frustration is understandable; the Bill of the government has fallen short by mile. Parivartan Sharma/Reuters”]  [/caption] The proposed Lokpal would take up corruption cases involving ministers, members of Parliament, Group ‘A’ officers and others equivalent to this grade in any body, board, authority, corporation, trust, society or autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament. This effectively leaves out the middle and lower rungs of the bureaucracy which the draft of Team Anna wanted covered. The proposed Lokpal would not require approval under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, or Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, in cases where prosecution is proposed. It would also have powers to attach the property of corrupt public servants acquired through corrupt means. Anna Hazare and his team, who sought a strong anti-corruption mechanism, are disappointed. Activist Kiran Bedi said it was a “deceit on the nation’’. “Once passed, it would have a cascading effect as those states which plan to set up the institution of Lokayukta will now plan to keep chief ministers out of it’s ambit,’’ she said, adding the “nation has lost a great opportunity.’’ Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta of Karnataka, dismissed the bill as not being strong enough. “I don’t think it will be a very strong Lokpal Bill. For 44 years, they have not brought the Lokpal Bill and now they want to bring a Bill which may not be strong at all,” he said. Arvind Kejriwal, another member in the drafting committee said if the government presents a Bill with faulty structures, then even the Parliamentary Standing Committee will not be able to do much. Their frustration is understandable. Only yesterday Anna Hazare had expressed hope that the government would meet the expectation of the aam admi. Obviously, the Bill of the government has fallen short by miles. It also renders the whole drama and the battle of nerves over the Bill stretching over three months a futile exercise. The end result should not come as a surprise to many. The government was never too serious about the civil society and its views. Anna Hazare’s fast and the overwhelming public support for it forced it to include five civil society members in the drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill. The rest, on the government’s part, was clever maneuvering and ‘buying time’ tactic. On their part, the civil society members were too combative and too unyielding in their approach. Some of their suggestions were too impractical. Towards the end, their battle, which started off as a people’s movement had turned into a sorry media spectacle. The government’s draft isn’t all that bad, and there’s scope for improvement. Hope the debate in Parliament ensures that. It is a beginning at least.