Activists Bill calls for Lokpal as supercop,superjudge

Hazare,who began a fast-unto-death here today,called for a joint committee of the government and activists to work out the new Lokpal Bill. A working group of the National Advisory Committee,too,has called for wider and more geographically spread consultations than has hitherto occurred,but underlined that there were many issues which needed to be re-visited and which needed greater discussion on finer points both of law and of content.

Given the current version of the Jan Lokpal Bill,the task is cut out.

Some of the major points of difference between the Bills prepared by the government and the activists are: activists wants the Lokpal to have powers to initiate suo motu investigations and receive complaints directly from the public. The governments version does not give any such power to the Lokpal.

The activists want the decisions of the Lokpal to be binding with the Lokpal empowered to initiate prosecution after the investigation and also order disciplinary action against any government servant.

They want the Lokpal to have police powers too,which means that the Lokpal would be able to register FIRs,hold an investigation and even launch prosecution.

The government wants the Lokpal to be a recommendatory body with no police powers. The activists want the CBIs anti-corruption wing to be merged with the Lokpal.

The activists want the Lokpal to have jurisdiction over politicians,officials and judges.

Of course,the concerns raised by Hazare are valid and a lot needs to be done to clean up but creating a ruckus at this juncture will only harm the Bill. How can activists pre-judge what Parliament will do? There is a process for everything. The activists want to create a supercop-superprosecutor-Judge,all rolled into one, said senior lawyer Atul Nanda.

Former Haryana Lokayukta Justice N K Sud (retired) also agrees. There is no question that the Lokpals decisions should be be binding. We cant leave everything to bureaucrats and politicians. But needless tussle will not solve any problem.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily says the government wants to accommodate the activists. When has the government said that the Bill is final? We have our views,they (activists) have their own. But,nobody can say that his views are correct and must be accepted without question. This is not democracy, he said.

A statement issued by NAC members Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander today said that the two main issues discussed at their meetings were inclusion of grievances within the ambit of the Bill and,provisions for transparency under the Bill.

It is only the beginning of a discussion and debate on a seminal legislation,which is the basis of people hoping to build a more ethical and accountable country. In a democratic process,discussions do not often progress in a linear trajectory,particularly if it believes in an inclusive process necessary for a mature piece of legislation, the statement said.