Chidambaram to blame for midnight swoop. SC pulls up Delhi Police for Ramdev crackdown

Apex court questions Delhi Police on Ramdev crackdown

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) ::  The Supreme Court Monday asked Delhi Police to explain their behaviour and the need to use teargas and baton-charge in a closed enclosure when people were sleeping during yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s protest gathering at the Ramlila Ground here last month.

The apex court bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice Swatanter Kumar said there were documents and DVDs to show that yoga exercises were undertaken at the camp, and if that was so, what was the justification for police to resort to baton-charge.

Delhi Police chief B.K. Gupta, in an affidavit to the apex court, had said that the permission to use the Ramlila Ground was given for a yoga camp and not for any other purpose.

The court said that it would consider Ramdev’s plea to issue notice to union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the grounds that the decision to use force against him and his followers at the anti-graft protest was not taken by Delhi Police June 4 but it was taken much earlier at the political level.

Senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Ramdev, referred to a press release issued by the home ministry and an interview by Chidambaram to Doordarshan in support of his contention that the decision to use force was taken much earlier.

The case would next be heard July 25.

Jethmalani referred to the ministry’s press release June 8 in which Chidambaram said that ‘a decision was taken’ that Baba Ramdev would not be allowed to organise any protest fast or undertake any fast-unto-death at Ramlila Ground and that if he persisted in his efforts to do so he would be ‘directed to remove himself from Delhi’.

The senior counsel said that the minister nearly repeated the same words in his interview with Doordarshan on that day.

Jethmalani said the minister’s comment was nothing but a strong arm tactic of the government and an attempt to gag any protest against corruption.

He wondered how could there be a decision to extern the yoga guru from Delhi.

Jethmalani described the government’s decision and action as ‘murder of democracy in the country’.

He said that Baba Ramdev had the lawful permission to hold dharna and satyagraha.

Delhi Police’s senior counsel Harish Salve said that he was given the permission to hold dharna and satyagraha only at Jantar Mantar.

When Jethmalani pressed for the issuance of a notice to Chidambaram, the court said ‘let them file a rejoinder to your affidavit and at that stage we will consider your prayer to issue notice’.

The court was informed that Delhi’s chief secretary did not file an affidavit on the matter because he was abroad when police evicted the yoga guru.

The judges said that there must have been someone looking after his responsibilities in his absence and ordered that an affidavit should be filed stating what was the need for using force to disperse the gathering.

• Related reading ::  Chidambaram to blame for midnight swoop, Ramdev tells Supreme Court - India - DNA
• Court glare on force on ‘sleeping men’
• SC pulls up Delhi Police for Ramdev crackdown | Supreme Court | Ramdev | The New Indian Express
• SC pulls up Delhi Police for Ramdev crackdown 

Courtesy : All related sources. This is published in the National interest and under citizen's responsibility for awareness generation programme. 

No possible consensus on Lokpal. But all the parties pledge to back 'strong' Lokpal in the coming monsoon session.

All-party meet on Lokpal Bill ends without any consensus....
Parties want Bill to be introduced in the coming monsoon session.
Ashok Tuteja & Faraz Ahmad || Tribune News Service || Courtesy : The Tribune, Chandigarh. 


New Delhi, July 3, 2011.

Consensus on the provisions of the Lokpal Bill eluded an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence here today. The government moved one step forward in pushing its draft of the Lokpal Bill for the coming monsoon session. However, all parties attending the Prime Minister’s meet on the Bill unanimously passed a resolution endorsing government plans to bring the Lokpal Bill “following established procedures” in the monsoon session.

With the main Opposition party refusing to lay open its cards on various clauses of the parallel drafts prepared by the government and Anna Hazare’s team, there was no consensus among the political parties on points of difference between the two drafts. While the Prime Minister expressed his government’s firm resolve to enact a Lokpal Act, which provides for an “effective and quick institutional arrangement for tackling corruption in high places.”

At the three-hour-long meeting, Opposition parties were sharply divided over the draft of the legislation prepared by the government.

Emerging from the meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said her party asked the government to ensure that the institution of Lokpal worked transparently and without fear or favour. “We have demanded that the Lokpal Bill be introduced in the monsoon session so that it could then be referred to the Standing Committee (of Parliament)… afterwards, it can be debated by political parties and various sections of the society. Once you have the opinion of every section, the Bill can be passed in the winters session of Parliament,” she added. Swaraj, however, maintained ambiguity about her party’s stand when asked if the BJP favoured bringing the office of the Prime Minister within the purview of the Lokpal. “We have not discussed various provisions of the Bill…they can be debated once the bill is referred to the Standing Committee,” she added.

The Congress has already stated that it would not like the office of the PM to be brought within the ambit of Lokpal.

The Left parties and several small parties have, however, opined that the PM’s office should not be excluded from the purview of the Lokpal. Some parties were of the view that judiciary should not be brought under it. There should be a judicial commission to tackle any cases of corruption in the judiciary.

The meeting was attended by top leaders of almost all the parties in Parliament amid a demand by civil society group led by Anna Hazare that the proposed law bring the PM and the higher judiciary within its ambit. It also seeks to control the MPs and bureaucracy across the nation transgressing the deferral structure of the Indian polity.

Besides the PM, the meeting was attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, M Veerappa Moily, Salman Khurshid and Pawan Kumar Bansal (Cong) Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel (both NCP), and T R Baalu (DMK) from the UPA’s side. The Opposition was represented by BJP veteran L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley (BJP), JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, S S Dhindsa (SAD), Sitaram Yechury (CPM), Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja (both CPI), Lalu Prasad (RJD) and V Maitreyan and M Thambidurai (both AIADMK), S C Mishra (BSP) and Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), among others. Other contentious issues that came up at the meeting were bringing MPs' conduct inside Parliament, CBI's anti-corruption wing and lower bureaucracy across the country within the ambit of Lokpal, besides mode of financing and the panel for selecting the ombudsman.

The government presented to the parties a comparative draft of the provisions of the Lokpal Bill suggested by the civil society and those put forward by the five Union Ministers in the drafting committee. In his opening remarks, the PM noted that the enactment of a strong Lokpal Bill has attracted a lot of attention during the past few months. He recalled how the government constituted a joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill, its nine meetings, which achieved considerable progress but failed to evolve consensus on many issues.

He acknowledged divergence of views on a few important issues between the Government and Anna’s nominees. “There is no doubt that corruption is a major issue today. It is not that we do not have legal and institutional arrangements in place to tackle corruption,” he said. However, there was a feeling that the institutional arrangements in place were not strong enough to ensure that the guilty, especially those occupying high positions, were brought to book swiftly and given deterrent punishment. He asserted that the government was committed to bringing the bill before Parliament in the coming Monsoon Session. However, it was important that such an institutional arrangement enjoyed the support of as large a section of people as possible and that there was the widest possible consensus regarding the Bill. “I must also add that while a good law and a strong institution are necessary to tackle the problem of corruption, these alone would never suffice. Along with these, we need to focus on simplifying procedures, reducing discretion, eliminating arbitrariness and increasing transparency in the way government functions.

He, however said that whatever arrangement was proposed, has to be for the larger good of society and the country. The institution of the Lokpal has to work in harmony with other institutions and laws and it has to function within the framework of the basic structure of the Constitution.

Lokpal row. "Fast again if 'right' draft ignored" - Anna to Sonia.

Anna meets Sonia, says will fast if 'right' draft ignored


BS Reporter / New Delhi July 3, 2011, 0:18 IST / Courtesy : Business Standard.

Social activist Anna Hazare meets Sonia Gandhi today
to seek her support on the Jan Lokpal bill.

Even as social activist Anna Hazare and his team met Congress President Sonia Gandhi here today to seek her support for the Lok Pal Bill, after the meeting, the former threatened to go on a fast again if the ‘right draft’ was not sent to the Parliament.

“A proper draft of the Bill should go to the Parliament. The civil society members will respect whatever the Parliament decides,” Hazare said after the meeting.

According to him, a proper draft will include the PM, higher judiciary, civil servants and the conduct of MPs in Parliament.

He said talks with Gandhi were fruitful and she was informed about the differences in the drafting of the Bill. Describing the meeting as satisfactory, Arvind Kejriwal said Gandhi was informed why the Lok Pal panel wanted the office of the Prime Minister to come under the Bill’s purview.

"We want the correct draft of the Bill to be sent to the Parliament,” he added.

Sources privy to the meeting said that Gandhi assured Hazare and his team that she will discuss the contentious issues with senior Congress leaders.

Veteran Congress leaders like Pranab Mukherjee and Janardan Dwivedi were also present during the meeting. Earlier this week, Mukherjee had blasted activists like Hazare for their threats and said the suggestions they had given for removing corruption were not practical.

Gandhi has her own compulsions. She is bound by the Congress Working Committee’s resolution, asking her not be swayed by “self-styled civil society members.”

Congress managers are waiting to see what stand the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will take. As far is the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is concerned, while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) favours the Hazare formulation — that of the inclusion of the PM in the bill — the AIDMK does not support the inclusion. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party will stand by the UPA on the issue.

Tomorrow’s all-party meeting will decide what will come out of the two drafts currently in circulation.

Yesterday, the Congress spelt out its stance clearly. Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “Our stand, though not conclusive, is very clear, and is subject to the decisions taken in the Cabinet and, most importantly, to the collective will of the Parliament. We are of the view that the institutions of the Prime Minister and the judiciary should not be brought under the Lok Pal’s ambit.”

“If the Prime Minister is brought under the Lok Pal, it would lead to inherent instability in democratic and parliamentary governance. It is not about an individual, but an institution. We have to think about the stability of the same,” Singhvi had said.

Talking against black money & corruption is not crime, but people's rights.

Nitin Gadkari wedged a severe attack on Manmohan Sing over his statements during the meet with select editors

Is it a crime to talk against black money & corruption ? – Gadkari asks PM

Source: News Bharati | Date: 6/29/2011 9:39:54 PM | eNews Bharati.

New Delhi, June 29 : The BJP president Gadkari today launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the views aired by him during his interaction with select editors, terming him as “failed” economist. Taking strong objection to the PM’s remarks on Baba Ramdev & Ramleela ground incident, he asked the PM, “is it a crime in India to talk against black money & corruption?” Also referring to the fuel price hike, he quipped that the congress government does not want the common man to live.

The BJP president, reacting to the Prime Ministers select press meet on Tuesday, said that the quandary the government is currently in, is of its own making.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Nitin Gadkari took strong exception to PM’s allegation that the Opposition is ‘not cooperating’ and instead alleged that the government did not consult them before starting parleys with the civil society over Lokpal bill.

He said, “We were not taken into confidence and now when they are in a fix, they remember us and accuse us of noncooperation.”

Gadkari said that the BJP will take a stand (on the Lokpal Bill) after it is tabled in Parliament.

Referring to PM’s statement that the Ramdev episode was unfortunate but unavoidable, Gadkari said, “Is it a crime to talk against black money and corruption? When the people, by and large, had not taken single stone in their hands, then why did the police attack them? Is this good for democracy?”

He quipped further, “The PM should explain why such an action was taken. Government ministers go to the airport to escort Ramdev and within four days your people call him thug? Now they say that same will happen with Anna Hazare. The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi should explain what type of democracy they want in the country,” the BJP president added.

On the issue of the government’s perceived failure to check rise on prices of essential commodities, Gadkari said, “The economist PM has failed in the examination.”

Referring the recent fuel price hike, Gadkari said the move was unwarranted for, and could have been avoided. He said that the LPG prices should not have been hiked as the prices are exorbitant & are going out of reach of the common man.

He opined that inflation is high because of wrong economic policies of the government. “Rs 70 thousand crores worth of food grain is rotting. Why can’t the government distribute it to the poor?” he asked.

(Readers can access the official transcript of Prime Minister's talk with the select editors by clicking here.)