Bill: Lokpal may probe PM only after he exits office

The Anna Hazare camp has been insisting that the Prime Minister be brought under the Lokpal.

Taking a calibrated approach to one of the most contentious issues in the debate on the Lokpal Bill,the government is said to be veering towards allowing the office of the Lokpal to investigate corruption charges against the Prime Minister but only after the person has demitted office.

This formulation is new but in tune with that of the Constitution Review Commission set up during the NDA government and the Administrative Reforms Commission that the Prime Minister would be hobbled and unable to discharge his duties if brought under the Lokpal.

This issue has been debated ever since the idea of setting up an office of Lokpal was first mooted way back in 1963. Since then a Lokpal Bill has been introduced in Parliament seven times,though it has never been passed. Three of those bills,introduced in 1977,1989 and 1998,had provisions to let the Lokpal investigate corruption charges against the Prime Minister.

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The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution set up by the NDA government and the second Reforms Commission of 2007,recommended that the Prime Minister must be kept out of the jurisdiction of the Lokpal.

…the Prime Minister occupies a unique position. He is the kingpin of the entire government structure. It is his image,his reputation and his personality that pervades the entire government. Because of his very position and the power he wields,he attracts a good amount of opposition,criticism,allegations and what not. If a Lokpal were to take up each and every allegation or accusation made against the Prime Minister by a political party or a group or a person,it would hobble the Prime Minister in an effective discharge of his functions. He cannot afford to remain under a cloud all the time nor can the nation afford a Prime Minister under a cloud all the time, said the Constitution Review Commission.

Headed by former Chief Justice M N Venkatachaliah,its members included Justice Shri B P Jeevan Reddy,Justice R S Sarkaria and former Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee.

The Anna Hazare camp whose anti-corruption agitation resulted in the setting up of the joint committee comprising government and non-government representatives to draft the Bill has been insisting that the Prime Minister be brought under the Lokpal.

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Sources said the government is said to prefer a compromise solution that the Lokpal can investigate the Prime Minister after he or she has demitted office.

Sources said that the joint committee is working towards completing the drafting of the Lokpal Bill by June 30 as scheduled irrespective of whether the civil society representatives participate in further meetings or not.

Anna Hazare and four of his colleagues,who are members of the joint committee,had boycotted Mondays meeting in protest against police action on Baba Ramdev who had been holding a fast on the issue of black money and had been evicted out of Delhi last week. They will go on a one-day protest fast tomorrow at Rajghat and have announced that they will attend the next meeting on June 15.