Terming it ‘jokepal’ as it was a “cruel joke” being played on the citizens of the capital, the expelled founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant Bhushan, on Saturday picked holes in the Delhi Janlokpal Bill which is to be tabled in the Delhi Assembly early next week.
They demanded that the party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, resign for “cheating” the people of Delhi and the Lokpal movement. The Bill in itself was proof of how much the Aam Aadmi Party and its supremo has digressed from its promise on Lokpal,” they said.
The AAP said the allegations were “false and called the Bhushans “proxy Bharatiya Janata Party elements” and advised them to “join the BJP.” In a statement, AAP leaders questioned the credibility of Prashant Bhushan’s challenge to the Bill, saying that the Bill drafted during Arvind Kejriwal’s 49-day rule was the same. “Prashantji was fine when the same Bill was introduced during the AAP’s last government,” party spokesperson, Raghav Chadha said, “Why did he not raise any question at that time? Now that the BJP is in power, he does not want the Lokpal to investigate the Centre. He should join the BJP and also make public his relations with [BJP] leader Arun Jaitley.”
The AAP’s Delhi in-charge and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said the Bill would be discussed threadbare in the winter session of the Assembly. After the House cleared it, the Bill would go to the Central government. “The Bill is in its formative stage. To comment with such contempt on it at this stage is not only premature but also an insult to the people of Delhi,” he said.
The most significant contention of the Bhushans was about the appointment of the Lokpal. Originally, it was envisioned that the appointment be made independent of the will of the political class. However, under Section 3(1)a of the Delhi Janlokpal Bill, 2015, the selection committee would consist of the Chief Justice of the High Court, the Chief Minister, the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition. “This makes it very clear that the AAP government wants the appointment of Lokpal to be controlled by the political class and would not let any appointment be made without the approval of the ruling party,” they said in a statement.
The Bhushans also questioned the provisions for the removal of the chairperson or members of the Janlokpal. Under Section 6(1) of the Bill, they could be dismissed through a motion passed by the Assembly with two-thirds majority. This put the Lokpal “at the mercy of the AAP government.”
Furthermore, under Section 10, the Lokpal would have no investigating machinery at his disposal. “Without its own independent officers, solely recruited for and dedicated to the institution, the Lokpal would merely be like the various other commissions and tribunals,” the statement contended.
