Jan Lokpal Bill to be basis of anti-graft law, says Kejriwal

“The Jan Lokpal Bill is going to be the basis of discussion,” Kejriwal said in an interview to CNN-IBN’s Karan Thapar Sunday. The government on Saturday acceded to the demands of veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare after thousands of people supported his five-day long fast-unto-death. A joint committee has been notified to draft the bill, whose civil society members include Hazare, Kejriwal, Justice Santosh Hedge, Prashant Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhustan.

Kejriwal defended the inclusion of his friends and associates in the committee, rather than getting other civil society members. “We drafted the Jan Lokpal Bill. Therefore, these people can talk clause by clause with the government,” he said.

Kejriwal denied that they were being narrow minded to any other formulations outside the Jan Lokpal Bill.  Kejriwal, a former Indian Revenue Service officer and now an RTI activist,  also denied that the activists’ version of the bill concentrated unprecedented powers into the office of the Lokpal.

“Now, Lokpal has broadly four functions—vigilance, criminal, public grievance and whistle blower protection,” he said. “The powers given to Lokpal are the same as that with the Central Bureau of Investigation and Income Tax authorities.”

Kejriwal also defended widening the scope of the Lokpal to bring public grievance into its ambit. “Grievance had to be read with the citizen’s charter. Each department has to say that it is going to do this much work in this much time.”