New Delhi:
Much midnight oil has been burnt over the last few days and the government is now ready with its final draft of the Lokpal Bill, "cleaned up" yesterday by senior ministers and to be approved today by the Union Cabinet before it is tabled in Parliament.
Sources say that "clean up", in the words of Law Minister Salman Khurshid, has in fact involved P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and him, all noted lawyers, making some major changes - chief among those that there should be no tinkering with the CBI's structure to bring any part of it under the nine-member Lokpal. Sources said the ministers, at their brainstorming yesterday, reconciled two drafts - one prepared by officials of the Department of Personnel and Training and another prepared with suggestions from the all political parties - to put together the final draft.
Their suggestions will be studied by the Cabinet when it meets this evening to review the Bill. The Union Cabinet meeting will take place at 7:30 pm, sources said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said the revised Lokpal Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday or Thursday; the Parliament session could be extended by three days, starting December 27, he said. That's when activist Anna Hazare has threatened to begin his fast in Mumbai.
Anna Hazare has an eye on what the government does next and his plans are ready. He has said that if a strong anti-corruption Bill is not tabled in Parliament before this session ends on Thursday, he will begin his fourth hunger strike of the year. That, he says, will be followed by him leading a jail-bharo agitation that will ask citizens to court arrest by protesting against the government from January 1. But he has also said that if the government extends the Winter Session of Parliament to pass a Bill that finds his nod of approval, he will not fast. The latter part is important; he said in Pune yesterday, "This is not a good Bill. If the Government brings a strong Lokpal Bill, I might stop my fast." Anna's track record of galvanizing lakhs of supporters, and his delicate health are over-arching if unacknowledged influences.
The final deliberations over the Lokpal Bill are focused on the relationship between the CBI and the Lokpal or the nine-member ombudsman that the Bill creates. The Lokpal's mandate will be to handle complaints of corruption filed by the public against government servants. Who will investigate these complaints, and how, is what has political parties divided. There is agreement that the CBI must have complete investigative autonomy. But whether it should report to the Lokpal - either in part or whole - has confounded politicians. Anna Hazare's team of activists would ideally like the Lokpal to oversee the CBI.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi gave a sense of the gap that still exists between the government's efforts and the activists' expectations when she tweeted this morning, "Unless independent Lokpal replaces Government for oversight over CBI, expect no change in the anti-corruption systems. Let's not be fooled."
No tinkering with the CBIIn the making of its final draft, sources said, the government has suggested that the CBI's structure remain unchanged. Sources said the ministers had considered a Supreme Court judgment in what is called the Vineet Narain case, which sets limits on how much the government can change the architecture of the CBI. They also decided not to separate the investigation and prosecution wings of the CBI to assign the latter part to the Lokpal as had been suggested.
The draft suggests that the Lokpal can instead have its own inquiry wing and can refer cases for detailed investigation to the CBI or any other investigative agency including that of state governments or state police. The government plans an internal mechanism to ensure that corruption cases that are referred to the CBI by the Lokpal are completely isolated from other cases handled by the CBI to remove the chance of interference.
Sources say the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and Lok Sabha speaker will form a panel that will appoint the CBI chief. The Lokpal Chairman will not be part of CBI chief's appointment.
The draft proposes that the Lokpal cannot initiate an inquiry without a complaint being lodged by a citizen.
It also proposes a category-wise reservation in the Lokpal.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is believed to have spoken to the BJP's Arun Jaitley on the role of the CBI; for the main Opposition party, this has been the major point of disagreement now left to be resolved.
Citizen's Charter and grievance redressal
Like Anna, the Left and the BJP have said that the government must demonstrate a sense of urgency and commitment by introducing the Lokpal Bill while Parliament is in session. Today, the government will introduce the Public Grievance Bill with a Citizens' Charter included, in the Lok Sabha. The Citizens' Charter refers to a public notice in every government office that will inform the public of the services that department has to provide, along with timelines and penalties for not meeting those timelines. This has been a fundamental demand articulated by Team Anna, which is unhappy that the Citizens' Charter has not been made a part of the Lokpal. To try and meet Anna halfway, sources said, the Public Grievance Bill would also provide that the aggrieved can appeal to the Lokpal or Lokayukta.
Some Congressmen say that no matter what they deliver for the Lokpal, Anna will not give them credit, In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh said the Lokpal Bill will be framed by the collective wisdom of Parliament, and that Anna cannot assume the responsibility for passing a law. "The UPA should get credit for co-opting Team Anna in the Lokpal Bill draft," said Mr Singh adding that, "Anna doesn't symbolise public disenchantment."
Today he tweeted in his inimitable style, "Venue of Anna's fast shifted to Mumbai. Is the reason cold winter or a greater opportunity to raise funds for NGOs of Team Anna?"
The extent of the Lokpal's jurisdiction has been a brittle and persistent theme of conflict between Team Anna and the government. Anna said the Prime Minister could not be exempt from the ombudsman's review. He also said that unless lakhs of junior bureaucrats are held accountable, the malignant grasp of corruption on everyday life will not be defeated. After deliberations with other parties, the government plans to suggest a few safeguards that would protect the PM from frivolous complaints, and from the disclosure of details of national security. Group C and D employees - the junior bureaucrats - will be investigated by the existing Central Vigilance Commission or CVC, which will provide the Lokpal with regular updates on its inquiries.
(With PTI inputs)