Centre agrees to Lokpal’s independent authority
NEW DELHI: The joint panel for drafting Lokpal Bill crossed a major hurdle in its third meeting on Saturday with the Government agreeing on the contentious issue of giving Lokpal the authority for initiating inquiry or prosecution without seeking permission from any other agency. The panel, however, could not reach an agreement on including the Prime Minister and the judiciary under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal. “There was an agreement that the Lokpal will have the right to initiate investigation and prosecution on corruption charges against almost anyone. On whether the Prime Minister and the judiciary should be included in it is a separate issue that will be discussed further,” said one of the civil society representatives, Prashant Bhushan. It was part of the non-negotiable basic features that the civil society group had passed to the Government in the second meeting of the panel. Sources said for this feature to come in to effect, appropriate amendments would be required in the Prevention of Corruption Act and Delhi Police Establishment Act. Describing the meeting as “exceptionally constructive”, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said there was an agreement on several issues such as the Lokayukta must not be under the control of the Government, it must be of unquestionable integrity, its process of appointment should be transparent and the Lokpal should be an independent authority with financial independence. “There were several issues which clash with other laws and constitutional provisions and need more discussion. But I will not like to identify those,” said Sibal. He said the panel has decided to start the drafting of the Bill on issues where there is agreement on both sides and have discussion on areas which have legal and constitutional problems. The Government also agreed on making the civil society’s Jan Lokpal Bill the basic legal framework for drafting the final Bill that will be tabled before Parliament. Hazare group had argued that the Jan Lokpal Bill was very close to the Government’s own Lokpal Bill, drafted under the chairmanship of Morarajee Desai in 1968, and thus, should serve as the basic framework for adoption. The civil society group also suggested that the Lokpal model at the Centre should be taken to all the states.
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