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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Lokpal to have constitutional status, ‘more power than EC’

Lokpal to have constitutional status, ‘more power than EC’

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published Published on Oct 11, 2011   modified Modified on Oct 11, 2011
-The Economic Times
 
The government on Tuesday said it would confer constitutional status on the proposed Lokpal , embracing the idea mooted by Rahul Gandhi. 

"We are working on a very strong Lokpal bill. A Lokpal bill that will come with a constitutional amendment . That amendment will give the Lokpal the status of a constitutional authority," law minister Salman Khurshid told PTI on Tuesday. 

Khurshid, who gave Rahul the credit for the move, further said the Lokpal would be "more powerful than the Election Commission" , "will have far greater powers" as well as a profile and stature that is "much higher" . 

The new thinking on Lokpal seems to be designed to outmanoeuvre civil society activists as well as political opponents . It comes at a time when the Hazare campaign has upped the ante again, and Khurshid's disclosure coincided with the inauguration of L K Advani's rath yatra against graft. 

The version proposed by the government is more radical than what civil society activists had asked for and could help the government claim credit for the anti-graft watchdog. 

Rahul first proposed the idea during the special sitting of Parliament to discuss the creation of Lokpal. The Congress general secretary had called it a game-changer . Although the claim was then dismissed as a delaying tactic , government has seized upon the suggestion to regain the initiative. "Rahul is very committed to that (proposal) and he believes it is a very important step we must take because Lokpal is no ordinary institution," Khurshid said. 

Although the law minister said the issue had not been discussed in the Cabinet yet, he said the party and government favoured bringing a constitution amendment bill in the winter session of Parliament to enact the law on Lokpal. 

Sibal led govt offensive at Lokpal meet 

New Delhi: Tempers flared, accusations were hurled and threats flew back and forth as the June 30 deadline to complete the Lokpal draft drew closer. The audio recordings of the joint Lokpal drafting committee - made public in response to an RTI application - have revealed how sharp words were exchanged between civil society members and Union ministers. 

HRD minister Kapil Sibal led the charge from the government side, taking on the civil society activists head on over their "liars, cheats and conspirators" accusation against the minister. He asked them to justify the charge. In the tapes, the HRD minister is also heard mocking civil society activists' description of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Chief Election Commissioner as objective constitutional bodies when the two sides locked horns over the composition of the selection committee for Lokpal. 

While most of the nine meetings spread over two months were cordial, matters heated up in the seventh round sharpening the divide which eventually resulted in the collapse of the negotiations. The provocation for the spike in tension was the barbs the two sides were trading in public. While lawyer father-son duo Shanti and Prashant Bhushan were wincing from the "fake CD" allegations slapped on them, Sibal chose to raise the issue of ministers being called "liars, cheats and conspirators'' as soon as the meeting started. It took all of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's skills to calm both sides down and focus the discussions on the bill. 

Launching on an offensive, Sibal said, "They have been rather generous in their praise towards us, by calling us liars, cheats and conspirators . And Anna Hazareji himself I heard him on television yesterday itself, says that whatever we had promised at the time when he was on fast we have reneged on that promise . Before this meeting starts we would like to know how and when have we cheated you, lied to you, conspired against you. And how and when have we been arrogant and in what manner have we gone back on any promise that we made to you... before any substantive discussion is taken forward." 

Team Anna members initially kept quiet but when pressed further by Sibal, retorted by bringing up the "fake" CD where Shanti Bhushan purportedly offered to fix a judge through Prashant Bhushan for a fee. 
Sibal denied that government had anything to do with the CD, and kept up his offensive that the civil society members back their charges with evidence. Justice Santosh Hegde also pitched in, recalling the allegations levelled by a Congress general secretary against the civil society. 

Anna Hazare tried to play the peacemaker. "We had earlier said that civil society and the government are united in their resolve to fight corruption .'' But Sibal remained insistent and continued forcefully that the civil society members owed them an explanation . To this Kejriwal said ,"I think each one of you carries two hats. One is that of a member of the committee and the other is the member of the government of India. We have been saying things against the government. We have never talked.... '


The Economic Times, 12 October, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/lokpal-to-have-constitutional-status-more-power-than-ec/articleshow/10322116.cms


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