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Lokpal

FP Archives|Aug 02, 2011, 13:53:42 IST

On 1 August 2011, Anna Hazare held a press conference claiming that 85% of respondents to a poll conducted in Chandni Chowk had said that the Prime Minister should come under the purview of the Lokpal bill. Lokpal has sharply come into public focus, after Hazare staged a fast unto death in April, demanding that the government enact the Lopkpal bill to prevent further graft in a nation rocked by revelations of the CWG scam and the 2G spectrum auction. But what is the Lokpal bill, what are the main points of difference between the government and Team Anna, and what is it expected to do? What is Lokpal?The Lokpal is essentially an institution which will investigate allegations of graft and corruption against public officials/servants and subsequently take action against anyone found guilty in this regard. In other countries, this function is fulfilled by the ombudsman. The Lokpal is expected to act as an intermediary between the public and the government, in redressing public grievances relating to graft, corruption and fraud. History of the Lokpal billThe Lokpal bill has been introduced to parliament on 10 different occasions but has never been passed into law. It was first introduced in 1968 by Shanti Bhushan and was cleared by the Lok sabha but could not make it through the Rajya sabha of parliament. It was most recently revisited in 2008. [caption id="attachment_50513" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Reuters"]

[/caption]The Jan Lokpal movementThe Jan Lokpal movement is backed by the India against corruption movement. It was behind Anna Hazare's fast asking for a stronger Lokpal bill. Among its criticisms of the existing anti corruption mechanisms is the fact that the current body, the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) does not have enough resources/power to effectively carry out its tasks, while the CBI (Central Board of Investigation) has powers but is not independent since it has to report to the central government. Following Hazare's fast unto death and given the amount of public support it received, the central government took the unprecedented step of constituting a 10 member Lokpal drafting committee comprising ministers and civil society activists to draft a new Lokpal bill. The government was represented by Pranab Mukherjee (Chairperson), P. Chidambaram, Veerappa Moily (convener), Kapil Sibal and Salman Khursheed; while civil society was represented by Anna Hazare, Justice Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan (co chair person) Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal. Following disagreements between the two sides however, a consolidated Lokpal draft was not agreed on and the two sides ended up submitting separate drafts. Among the major sticking points is the fact that civil society wants the office of the Prime Minister as well as the higher judiciary to come under the ambit of the Lokpal - meaning that they can also be investigated if accused of corruption/graft. However the government side maintains that this would compromise the office of the Prime Minister and CJI. Lokpal 2011 (The government version) The bill presented by the government allows for the constitution of an independent Lokpal committee comprising of a chairperson and ten members. It has the powers to investigate any pubic servant punishable under the prevention of corruption act but this area of influence does not extend to the sitting Prime Minister. The Lokpal also has the powers to demand investigation officers from any government agency to carry out its work, and has powers equal to the police force in this regard. In terms of hearing cases and passing judgement the Lokpal has powers equal to a civil court and may even punish those in contempt of it. It will be required to take action against those it finds guilty of corruption within a time frame not exceeding two years. There is considerable detail in how it will investigate public servants who are not Members of parliament and those who are sitting MPs. Read the entire draft bill:DraftLokpalBill2011

The India against corruption movement has called the bill an "eyewash" and Anna Hazare has said he will embark on a fast unto death from August 16 in protest. The Jan Lokpal bill 2011The Jan Lokpal bill has both the Prime Minister as well as the Chief Justice under its ambit. It will merge the CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI. The Lokpal will thus have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician. Another major difference is that the public will be able to directly make complaints to the Lokpal, through a 'lokayukta' set up in each state. Read the Jan Lokpal bill: Jan Lokpal Bill Ver 2.3