“Baba Ramdev is fighting against corruption; we're working towards setting up an institution which will prevent corruption; in this way, we are fighting for the same cause,” said Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde here on Thursday. He was answering reporters' queries on whether he supported Baba Ramdev's proposed satyagraha against corruption later this week.
Mr. Hegde spoke after attending the launch of the book, India's Parliamentary Democracy on Trial , by former bureaucrat Madhav Godbole, organised by the Department of Political Science of Bangalore University and the Sarvodaya International Trust.
Views on Bill
Asked how the Lokpal Bill draft was progressing, he said it would be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament. The Union Government would take the views of all the Chief Ministers on the Bill.
Reacting to the accusation by someone in the audience that the demand for the Jan Lokpal Bill amounted to blackmail, the Lokayukta said: “The people who are proposing it don't stand to gain anything from it. We want a comprehensive Bill which includes even public servants.”
On the system of democracy, he said change was needed not in the system but in the voters' attitude. “Some Bills are passed without even knowing what they contain. This happened to the Prevention of Corruption Act when it was being amended in 2008,” he said.
Former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah was also present.
