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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | No consensus on Lokpal Bill, Anna to fast from Aug 16 by Himanshi Dhawan

No consensus on Lokpal Bill, Anna to fast from Aug 16 by Himanshi Dhawan

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published Published on Jun 21, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 21, 2011
Marked by distrust and, on the government's part an element of coercion as well, the civil society-UPA exercise to jointly draft a Lokpal bill formally ended in failure on Tuesday with the two sides exchanging conflicting drafts.

The government is unable to accept civil society's version of an anti-corruption authority with sweeping jurisdiction over the Prime Minister's Office, top judiciary and actions of MPs in Parliament along with merging entities like Central Vigilance Commission and Central Bureau of Investigation into the Lokpal.

The final meeting of the drafting committee predictably ended in failure although with the conclusion foregone, there was no animosity. The government would be relieved that an exercise it accepted under duress is over but it does have Anna Hazare's threatened August 15 fast to deal with.

In keeping with its strategy, the government took the Lokpal issue to its UPA allies at a meeting later on Tuesday evening where finance minister Pranab Mukherjee explained how the meetings with the Hazare group had gone. The next step would be to take the two differing drafts to an all-party meeting.

The government is now banking on the distaste of political parties and MPs to ceding powers to a new powerful judicial-administrative authority with a mandate to initiate investigation into corruption cases. It hopes discussions among allies, within Cabinet, political parties and Parliament will expose "limitations" of the Hazare draft.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal did not attempt to gloss over the divide and said both sides "agreed to disagree.'' The joint drafting committee saw the government asserting that it could not allow creation of a parallel governance structure with overarching power that is "answerable to nobody''.

Activists on the other hand, expressed their "disappointment'' saying the government draft was a "symbolic attempt" to install an authority rather than a "comprehensive, independent, empowered" institution to fight corruption. They agreed that the government's initial offer had been improved on but said it was not enough.

The government draft empowers the Lokpal to take cognizance of an act of corruption, gives the body power to investigate cases against officials above deputy secretary rank and waives the need for sanction for prosecution above joint secretary rank. It can recommend transfer and suspension during the course of a probe and provide for time-bound trial by special courts.

Law minister Veerappa Moily said the mandate of the committee was to prepare a Lokpal bill and not to rewrite the Constitution, reiterating the government criticism that the Hazare group's proposal to oversee higher judiciary and rework parliamentary privileges was simply unviable and would not stand scrutiny of the courts.

"The government has no intention to bring a strong Lokpal bill. It is misleading the people. Now, there is no option but to go on fast from August 16 as announced earlier," Hazare said. The Hazare camp said major differences persisted as government rejected major demands and identified new ones including omission of fines if an official does not comply by a citizens' charter.

Hazare associate Arvind Kejriwal said the government draft also allowed for a person accused of corruption to be given a hearing by the Lokpal. "The CBI in its compromised position is still a better instrument than the draft that the government has presented. This kind of faulty procedures will make the process ineffective,'' he said.

Moily, however, defended the provision saying that it was left to the discretion of the Lokpal to give the accused a chance to defend himself before an FIR was lodged. Both the drafts will be circulated among political parties in a meeting next month before being taken up by the Cabinet, Sibal said.

Water resources minister Salman Khurshid said the government decided to draw a line and excluded the PM as he is the "lynchpin" of the parliamentary system. "What we have done is an honest effort to provide a corruption free society... we departed from the standard procedure of drafting a legislation," he said pointing to the involvement of civil society.

The ministers said the bill proposed by the government was the "strongest ever" to fight corruption. Sibal said, "We cannot afford a parallel system. There have to be checks and balances. We want the Lokpal to be independent and strong but there should be some checks and balances. Can we have a parallel police outside government? We cannot afford to have a parallel government," he said.

The Times of India, 22 June, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-consensus-on-Lokpal-Bill-Anna-to-fast-from-Aug-16/articleshow/8943947.cms


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