Govt mum on bringing judiciary in Lokpal ambit

Anna Hazare-led representatives of the civil society on Monday told the government that the objects and intents of the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted and proposed by them reflected the United Nations Convention on Corruption, which New Delhi signed in 2005, but is yet to ratify it.

In the second meeting of the joint committee of the government and civil society for drafting Lokpal Bill, the social activists on the panel read out the salient features of the legislation proposed by them. They also provided clarifications sought by the five Union Ministers representing the government on the panel.

Talking to Deccan Herald after the meeting at North Block here, civil society representative and Karnataka Lokayukta, Santosh Hegde, quoted Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stating that the government was committed to draft a strong Lokpal Bill to set up an independent and empowered institution to fight the menace of corruption and was also keen to present it in the Parliament during its monsoon session in July. Mukherjee, along with former law minister and civil society activist Shanti Bhushan, co-chairs the joint panel for drafting Lokpal Bill. Home Minister P Chidambaram, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Law Minister M Veerappa Moily are other government representatives in the panel.

The Union Ministers sought clarifications on the rationale of bringing the sub-ordinate judiciary, which is under control of the High Court, within the purview of the proposed institution of Lokpal.

Sources said that the government’s representatives, however, had not touched upon the contentious issue of bringing the higher judiciary within the purview of the Lokpal, although the meeting had been held against the backdrop of a debate on the issue.

Two former chief justices of India – J S Verma and M N Venkatachalaiah – recently opposed bringing judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts within the purview of the proposed legislation. The social activist on the panel already  made it clear that they would oppose any move to dilute the provisions of the draft legislation to make the judiciary immune to probe by the anti-corruption agency.

“The meeting was very good, very cooperative. There was no difference of opinion,” Sibal told reporters after the meeting. “The civil society members and we will think about the proposals given by both sides and discuss again in our next meeting to be held on May 7 next.”

The drafting committee will also meet on May 23 and 30 next and would continue to meet frequently in the month of June to expedite the process. “We hope that by June 30 we would have decided on the broad contours and drafted a Lokpal Bill to be introduced in Parliament,” Sibal said.

The civil society representatives had submitted their draft of the Lokpal Bill to the government during the panel’s first meeting on April 16 last. They had then been asked by the Union Ministers to give documents, explaining the objects, intents and basic principles of the proposed Bill as well as its salient features.

“The meeting (on Monday) was mainly to discuss the basic principles behind the Jan Lokpal Bill. The discussion was on essential features, objects and reasons of the Bill which have been prepared according to the main provisions of the UN Convention against Corruption,” said Prashant Bhushan, an eminent lawyer and one of the civil society representatives on the panel. “All signatories of the UN Convention against Corruption have to pass this kind of law,” he added.

Hazare, who was not keeping well, did attend the meet on Monday. So did Right To Information activist Arvind Kejriwal.