What govt,Team Anna discussed at Lokpal meetings

In audio tapes of meetings,Sibal argues that probe against PM can damage authority.

Give some thought to the international standing of the Prime Minister and the reputation of his office in the public eye,Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal told members of Team Anna while arguing against bringing the office of the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed Lokpal in one of the meetings of the joint drafting committee.

In the audio tapes of the proceedings of the meetings of the joint drafting committee,Sibal is heard arguing that while proof of culpability of Prime Minister,or otherwise,would become known only after investigations are over,the very fact of an ongoing probe would damage the authority of the Prime Minister.

The audio recordings of all the meetings have been released by the government in an RTI request made by activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal. While the two sides five ministers and five representatives of the civil society stuck to their respective positions on various provisions of the proposed Lokpal Bill,the meetings were held in a largely cordial atmosphere with each side patiently hearing the views of the other.

Sibal and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee seemed to be doing most of the talking during the meetings while Arvind Kejriwal and Shanti Bhushan were the most vocal from Team Annas side.

Sibal is heard making the governments offer to bring the Prime Minister within the provisions of the Lokpal Bill after the Prime Minister has demitted office. But Prashant Bhushan and Santosh Hegde are heard countering that argument,saying neither the Constitution nor the laws of the country provide for any special privilege to the Prime Minister on this count. They point out that under the current scheme of things,the Prime Minister can be investigated for corruption.

A significant part of the conversations was devoted to sorting out logistical issues and discussing the contours of future meetings. The government team sounded keen to show that the two sides were slowly sorting out the differences.

The message outside to the people should be that we are on the same platform, Sibal is heard saying.

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Mukherjee repeatedly assured Team Anna that all their concerns would be discussed by the government in the cabinet. But he made it clear that suggestions given by other groups and stakeholders would also be considered while finalising the draft.

Sibal commended Team Anna for being flexible on some of the contentious provisions and said that the draft put forward at the meeting by the civil society was a good draft to move forward with.