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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Questions raised about procedures adopted by Lokpal panel by Gargi Parsai

Questions raised about procedures adopted by Lokpal panel by Gargi Parsai

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published Published on May 22, 2011   modified Modified on May 22, 2011
Even as the government indicated after the last meeting of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee (JDC) that it would initiate drafting the Bill on agreed points, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) on Saturday raised several questions about the procedures being adopted by the panel, as well on the “official” public consultation that should take place.

Discounting the lokpalbillconsultations.org website, launched by the panel's civil society members and the well-publicised “yatras'' undertaken by them for public consultation, the NCPRI has written to panel chairman Pranab Mukherjee and co-chairman Shanti Bhushan seeking to know when would the “official” website to provide information about the joint drafting committee be set up and asked, “If not, the reasons thereof?''

Referring to the gazette notification for the Lokpal Bill joint drafting panel issued on April 9 which stated that the panel would evolve its own procedures to prepare the proposed legislation and to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement wherein he said that “I hope after consultation with a wide spectrum of stakeholders the legislation is placed before the Cabinet,'' the NCPRI said that since then the JDC had met thrice, yet “no clarity had emerged'' regarding the process.

Seeking to know the “terms of reference” and the procedure defined to prepare the draft, the NCPRI — of which National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy is one of the founders — wanted the specific schedule, date, time, and location for public consultation that would be followed by the JDC.

The NCPRI also sought information on the process of public dissemination for the proceedings of the meetings, including decisions, resolutions, minutes, documents and other background material used in the meeting. It has asked the panel chiefs the process by which the public could provide feedback and comments to the joint panel.

The letters are signed by Nikhil Dey and Venkatesh Nayak, co-conveners of the NCPRI.

Reacting to the letters, Arvind Kejriwal, one of the members on the panel said: “The points raised by NCPRI are extremely important. Arunaji's being a member of the NAC adds more weight to the points raised. We will place the letter at Monday's meeting of the joint panel and seek answers.”

According to him, the civil society members had been posting the cleared minutes of the meetings on their website. “The government representatives had said that once there was agreement on the basic principles of the Lokpal Bill, there would be wider consultations.”

Said lawyer and panel member Prashant Bhushan: “We have opened a website for people's comments and views. There have been four to five regional meetings and public consultations. We have been asking the government for regional consultations and to videograph the proceedings. The government representatives said that after there was agreement on the basic points, the preliminary basic draft would be put to public consultations.”

In fact, after the last meeting the government had made it clear that it would need to consult State governments on the setting up of Lokayuktas.

The Hindu, 22 May, 2011, http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/22/stories/2011052263110600.htm


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