Sitting Supreme Court judge supports the inclusion of Prime Minister's Office within the ambit of Lokpal Bill.

Supreme Court judge wants PM under Lokpal's scanner

PTI / Friday, August 5, 2011 20:33 IST / DNA
 

A sitting Supreme Court judge today supported the inclusion of the Prime Minister's Office within the ambit of Lokpal Bill tabled in Parliament yesterday.

"As a student of law, I see no substance in the debate that the Prime Minister should be outside the (Lokpal) Bill. A public office of such importance cannot shy away from public scrutiny," Justice AK Ganguly said.

The judge was addressing a gathering here on the occasion of the release of a book 'Corruption and Human Rights in India', authored by Professor C Raj Kumar, the Vice Chancellor of OP Jindal Global University.

Pointing out that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had himself expressed his willingness to bring the PMO under the Lokpal's scanner, Justice Ganguly said "more efforts to keep the PM out will add to the suspicion among people."

In his address, Justice Ganguly also criticised the Prevention of Corruption Act, which stipulates sanction by competent authorities before prosecuting any government servant, bureaucrat or politician on charges of corruption.

"The Prevention of Corruption Act, to my mind, is preservation of corruption act. It has a mechanism to protect the corrupt. Without the sanction, the corrupt cannot be prosecuted. Who is to give you the sanction? They (corrupt) do not act individually and they work in a organised way," he said.

Justice Ganguly is also the part of a two-judge bench which had heard a petition by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy seeking guidelines for the grant of sanctions to prosecute those occupying public offices on the charge of corruption and has reserved its order on the plea.

Why Prime Minister is excluded from Lokpal ambit ?

Govt draft on Lokpal excludes Prime Minister

NEW DELHI, July 25, 2011 || PTI

A Student Union in Ranchi demonstrating for the inclusion of
PM in the ambit of Lokpal. However the Govt draft
excluded it. Photo-PTI. 

The government draft on Lokpal Bill, which is expected to be considered by the Cabinet this week, does not include the Prime Minister in the purview of the Ombudsman but the final call on the ticklish issue will be taken by Parliament and its Standing Committee.

Disclosing this, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the Bill will be introduced in Parliament in the Monsoon session starting on August 1.

The government’s draft has been prepared by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is the nodal ministry, and the issue is likely come up before Cabinet this week or early next week.

“Once the Cabinet approves the draft with or without changes — it is the government’s draft that will be introduced in Parliament. So we will introduce the Lokpal Bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament,” he told PTI here.

On the controversial question of bringing the Prime Minister’s post in the ambit of Lokpal, Mr. Chidambaram said, “According to present thinking, and subject to change by the Cabinet, the government’s draft keeps out the Prime Minister.

“...Our considered view at the moment, subject to change by the Cabinet, is that the PM should be kept out of Lokpal,” he added.

The Home Minister noted that there are several arguments for and against keeping the Prime Minister out of the ambit of the anti-corruption watchdog.

Read details in:  The Hindu
Courtesy : The Hindu & PTI.This is published in the National interest and under citizen's responsibility for awareness generation programme. 

Let come Bullets, I will not step down from Fast for 'Strong Lokpal': Anna

Hazare flays UPA, says ‘willing to face bullets’ for agitation

PTI || MUMBAI || JULY 9, 2011

Lashing out at the government for criticising civil society activists, Gandhian Anna Hazare on Saturday vowed to continue with the proposed August 16 agitation despite “threats” to “crush” it, saying he was willing “to face bullets and not just lathis.”

Pointing that laws like Right to Information were enacted because of the pressure of civil society, Hazare said, “If this (pressure on Government over Lokpal) amounts to blackmail, I am willing to resort to blackmail through out my life.”

Dismissing criticism by Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on the role of civil society activists on the Lokpal Bill issue, he reminded the Congress-led government at the Centre that it was late Rajiv Gandhi who sought their opinion while enacting the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments for ushering in Panchayati Raj system in the country.

“Rajiv Gandhi wrote letters to over five lakh village heads all over the country, saying his government plans to bring in constitutional amendments regarding Panchayati Raj.

He sought views of the civil society in bringing the landmark legislation,” he told reporters after inaugurating the office of `India Against Corruption’ in South Mumbai here.

Mr. Hazare said his agitation from August 16 in support of a strong Lokpal will herald the “second independence movement”. “I appeal to people to switch off their lights from 8 PM to 9 PM on that day and take to the streets shouting slogans demanding an end to corruption.” Read details in=> The Hindu

Courtesy : The Hindu. This is published in the National interest and under citizen's responsibility. 

Lok Pal Trail : Lokpal Bill in Monsoon Session : How ??

Govt confident of introducing Lokpal Bill in Monsoon Session 
Source: PTI  || Date: 7/4/2011 4:02:54 PM || eNews Bharati.

New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) : With majority of political parties batting for Parliamentary supremacy on the Lokpal Bill, government today expressed confidence that a consensus will emerge on the issue and the draft legislation would be introduced in Parliament in the upcoming Monsoon Session.

"We are very happy with the outcome of the all party meeting yesterday...we are confident we can take the process forward to bring the Bill in the Monsoon Session and pass it as soon as possible," Home Minister P Chidambaram said here.

He pointed out that yesterday's all party meeting called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasised the primacy of the Parliamentary process and the role of political parties to pilot and approve legislations.

Chidambaram's remarks reflected a sense of relief in the government which was so far battling the civil society led by Anna Hazare on the Lokpal issue alone while receiving flak from Opposition parties on the issue of corruption.

"We will therefore bring a Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament. That Bill will be examined. Every effort will be made to pass the Bill at the earliest. But that will depend on the members of Parliament and their desire to follow established procedures," Chidambaram said.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal made it very clear that the government had promised to bring the Lokpal Bill in the Parliament in the Monsoon Session but there was no commitment on the timeline of passing the same.

"We had said we are committed to bringing the Bill in the monsoon session. We never said it will be passed in the monsoon session," Sibal said.

The Minister also said that two parties which took part in the all party meeting suggested that the Bill could be passed in the Winter Session.

Courtesy : PTI & News Bharati. This is published in the National interest and under citizen's responsibility.

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.

Supreme Court of India holds no interference in Lokpal Bill drafting committee.

SC says no to interference in 
Lokpal bill drafting committee 

SC says no to interference in Lokpal bill drafting committee

Source: Agency | Date: 6/28/2011 3:41:56 PM | eNews Bharati

New Delhi  Jun  28 : In a major development  the Supreme Court said it will not interfere in the constitution of the joint committee for drafting of the Lokpal Bill and termed the petitions "premature".

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia decided to adjourn the hearing on three public interest litigations (PILs)  till mid-July. The Apex court didn’t accept the petitioner’s plea that the committee would draft the bill by June 30. Honorable justice said,

“ In one petition filed by Mahan Dal, a political party in Haryana said that a bill of such a great national importance shouldn't be drafted in haste or under pressure from Anna Hazare and others as it would set a bad example. "Whether a decision affecting the whole of the nation can be taken so suddenly without having a public debate on such a national issue of great public importance?

"Whether the government could take an action under the threat or pressure from one of the citizens of the country and whether this would not create a bad precedent for future? "Ultimately the government succumbed to the pressure of Anna Hazare and hurriedly came out with a resolution on April 8 2011," it was said in one of the petitions filed by counsel R K Kapoor. The PIL also said that the composition of the joint drafting committee was totally partisan, arbitrary and not in national interest.

A PIL express fears that enactment of Lokpal would be against  the spirit of Article 50 of the Constitution of India. It will wipe out the separation of the judiciary from the executive.

"A decision affecting the whole nation cannot be taken so suddenly without having a public debate on such a national issue of great public importance. The government cannot take action under threat or pressure from one of the citizens of the country and such succumbing to pressure tactics would create a bad precedent for future,

" it was said in one of the petitions filed.  The petition also said that the joint drafting committee should be expanded and more persons from different fields like women, minorities, media, academics etc. and others be included to give it a un-biased and non-partisan touch. In second petition Kaushal Kishore Shukla, through counsel Jitender Singh, had demanded inclusion of Leader of the Opposition in the drafting panel. In third PIL advocate Manoharlal Sharma challenged the notification but also asked the Apex court to order a CBI inquiry into alleged illegal activities of Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, the father-son duo.