Lokpal: Only meeting,no meeting ground

Sources said the government has already decided that whether the two sides agree on a single draft Bill or not,it would go ahead and introduce a Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament. After a two-hour meeting this afternoon,the two sides agreed only on the date of their next meeting,probably the last,on June 20 and,if needed,June 21.

The contentious issues like inclusion of the Prime Minister,the higher judiciary and the MPs under the Lokpal’s ambit,did not even come up for discussion today.

“It was not at all satisfactory,” was the prompt reply from Justice Santosh Hegde,speaking to The Indian Express,immediately after the meeting was over. There was disagreement even on the “basic issues,” he added.

Echoing this was Union Minister Kapil Sibal: “There was no consensus on basic issues with regard to the form of Lokpal Bill. Structurally there is no convergence of opinion over what the office of Lokpal should be like — both at the Centre and state-level.”

“We shall meet again and in case there is no consensus,both sides will go ahead with their version of Bill. A draft Lokpal Bill will be sent to Cabinet by June 30,which shall have version of the ministers of the government as well as the Jan Lokpal bill (drafted by the civil society),” the minister said.

Arvind Kejriwal,another civil society member on the panel,said that today’s meeting was a futile exercise since the government seemed to have made up its mind. “The meeting was not good,nothing could be achieved in it. The government has refused to budge on almost all the issues.”

But he maintained that he and his non-government colleagues will not boycott the meetings. “We shall attend and give our version of the Bill. It is for the people of this country to decide,” Kejriwal said. He said that all the previous meetings — since the committee was formed over a month ago — “were merely an eyewash”.

The five civil society members had boycotted the last joint drafting committee’s meeting on June 6 in protest against the police eviction of Baba Ramdev from the Ramlila Maidan. They had also raised doubts about government’s intentions about having a strong anti-corruption watchdog.

Said Justice Hegde: “While the government agreed that proposed Lokpal should have an all-India jurisdiction but how it will exercise its powers was not agreed upon.”

Meanwhile,in a surprise move,Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit questioned the need to set up another institution to fight corruption. “There are several institutions already in place like the CVC,ED,Lokayukta,CBI and so on. We should instead strengthen these,” she said,explaining her response to the questionnarie sent out by Union government to all chief ministers.

Except Dikshit,Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states,in their response to the six questions on the proposed legislation sent by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,have toed the Centre’s line on the Lokpal Bill,opposing bringing the Prime Minister under its ambit. On the other hand,NDA Chief Ministers have sought wider deliberations before a final view is taken.

Many Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states have written back to Mukherjee,taking exception to being asked to give their opinion now when the final draft is yet to be finalised.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,while expressing surprise on his views being sought on such a crucial issue in a “casual and hurried manner”,said without looking into contents of the final draft,it would be inappropriate to express any opinion.”

His Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi,while supporting the demand to set up the institution of Lokpal,has said the Centre should consult the states on the Bill and not just on six points on which the government and civil society representatives have different opinions. Similar views were expressed by Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik and CMs of BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.