New Delhi:
With activist Anna Hazare threatening to go on a fourth and lengthy hunger strike later this month, the government has developed a new peace formula for the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill that has united the Opposition with Anna.
And ahead of the final push for that Lokpal Bill, the Union Cabinet has cleared two others - the Judicial Accountability Bill and Citizen's Charter. (
Read) Senior judges will be covered by the former; the latter makes it necessary for government offices to post a notice that indicates how long it will take to deliver a service, and the penalty for officers who don't meet that deadline.
Anna, who is fronting a nationwide campaign for the Lokpal Bill, had asked for the legislation to include judges and the Citizen's Charter. As indicated earlier, the government has addressed these spheres through separate bills.
And the Lokpal Bill itself will incorporate the other must-haves outlined by Anna and supported by a gamut of Opposition parties. So the Lokpal, a new ombudsman agency, will be allowed to investigate the Prime Minister, though with safeguards, for charges of corruption. Fifty seven lakh junior bureaucrats, who are Central government employees, will also be accountable to the ombudsman. The premier investigating agency - the CBI - will report to the Lokpal when investigating complaints of corruption against government servants.
Sources say the Prime Minister spent most of last evening working the phone, trying to find political consensus on these issues; he was reportedly successful, and most parties have accepted this latest version of the contentious bill. The draft will be discussed officially tomorrow at an all-party meet called by the PM. But having learnt the hard way that allies can take exception to not being consulted, this evening, the Congress is meeting with all members of the ruling coalition to map the contours of the new legislation.
The government has said it is not trying to placate 74-year-old Anna. But Sunday's debate, hosted by Team Anna, and attended by all major parties except for the Congress, proved that the government is in a minority over its stand on Anna's key demands.
Anna, however, isn't going by hearsay. He repeated today in Delhi his warning to start a fast on December 27 if the Lokpal Bill is not approved as law by Parliament before then. The activist's core group will meet tomorrow in Delhi to finalise its strategy.
(Team Anna Core Committee meeting tomorrow)The need to allow the Lokpal to investigate the PM's office for charges of corruption was emphasised at Sunday's debate at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
(Will fight for strong Lokpal, but leave details to Parliament: Parties at Anna's debate) The government has been suggesting that the PM must complete his or her term before the Lokpal can follow up on charges of graft. "But why should we tolerate a corrupt PM for even a day?" asked the BJP's Arun Jaitley during the debate. So though the new formula places the PM under the ambit of the Lokpal, there are safeguards. To avoid frivolous complaints, for example, a charge against the PM would be referred to a full bench of the Supreme Court before being accepted by the Lokpal.
The CBI has argued ardently against being made to report to the Lokpal - the agency believes this will defeat the objective of ensuring its autonomy. So it will now have the Lokpal as its boss only for investigations related to corruption. The government is also likely to propose an independent mechanism for the appointment of the CBI Director. Opposition parties at Anna's debate said the CBI has to be freed from government control - and that every party that has formed the government has been tempted to use the investigating agency for political vendetta by launching investigations against opponents, and protecting its supporters. Sources say both the BJP and the Congress may agree that the CBI director should be appointed by the PM, the chairman of the Lokpal and the Leader of the Opposition.
The government has in recent months shown no predilection for seeking consensus - that has led to embarrassing face-first crashes on important matters like foreign direct investment in retail. The Opposition said it had not been consulted; so did allies like Mamata Banerjee, whose party, the TMC, is the second-largest member of the UPA coalition after the Congress. After announcing that it was opening up retail to foreign ownership, the government had to suspend the reforms that were meant to telegraph this government's policy paralysis had ended.