Lawmakers alone must not make laws

The Lokpal is required urgently in the country to check corruption as there is no anti-corruption institution. The common man does not know where to go. The CBI and police, which are required to inquire into the charges, are not effective because they are controlled by the Government.

The judiciary can help but has  itself become corrupt and dysfunctional. In view of the huge pendency of cases, we can say that it has not been that effective and cannot decide the cases.

Broad-based

As far as Central Vigilance Commission is concerned, we have seen the recent fiasco (referring to former CVC P J Thomas, whose appointment was struck down by Supreme Court).

So, we require one body in the form of Lokpal that can investigate the offences and prosecute the offenders.

If Jan Lokpal Bill is passed, we are going to make the selection of its members broad-based, proper and transparent. It is going to have all the powers to investigate the complaints with regard to corruption.

In most of the states, the Lokayuktas have been selected from the body of retired judges whose integrity is not above board. That’s why, they have not been that successful in achieving their intended purpose.

What we propose is that our Lokpal will include the Central Vigilance Commission. Different vigilance commissions and CBI would come under its direct control to probe the charges of corruption.

We believe that elected representatives, bureaucrats and Supreme Court and High Court judges would come under the purview of the Lokpal as far as the charges of corruption against them are concerned.

With regard to the question, if someone appointed as Lokpal himself or herself becomes corrupt, I feel these chances are less due to checks and balances in the institution; there will adequate scope to try them. Further, the person appointed as chairman and members of the Lokpal would not be connected to any political party or carry on any business, and would discontinue practise of any profession.

Clause by clause

Now that the demand for setting up of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill has been conceded, we will go clause by clause and complete the exercise by the scheduled date of June 30. We hope we will complete our task by this date provided the ministers on the panel devote adequate time. If they do that, I have no reason to believe that it cannot be done within the given deadline. After we complete the job and submit it to government, the Bill will go to Parliament. Having seen the public sentiment and opinion (on corruption) during the popular upsurge over the last four to five days, I hope that Parliament will okay the Bill finalised by the committee without changes.

It shows that the people of this country are fed up with corruption. They are looking for something to check corruption. They have realised that if they get organised, they can bring in change. This is also a movement towards participatory democracy. We have to move towards this law making process from the present system of only lawmakers (MPs and MLAs) forming policies.

(The author is an advocate and member of Joint Committee on Lokpal. He is also part of the group led by Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, which drafted the Jan Lokpal Bill as a model for the Government to emulate.)