Supporting social activist Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption, the former Lok Sabha Speaker, P.A. Sangma, has pointed out that the draft Jan Lokpal Bill, seeking to bring the Prime Minister, MPs and judges under the ambit of Lok Pal, was fraught with danger to the very existence of parliamentary democracy under which Legislature and Judiciary were most sacrosanct.
In a letter to Mr. Hazare, Mr. Sangma has said MPs can be taken to task for any misdemeanour. As far as the Prime Minister is concerned, it will be most desirable that a provision be made in the Lokpal Bill to take action against him/her for any misdeeds only after he demits the office. “The Prime Minister, in fact, is responsible for his Council of Ministers and, therefore, his office becomes highly sensitive. I do not think it would be in the interest of the nation to hang the sword of Damocles on his head. He has to be allowed freedom to function without any fear. In any case, he is responsible to Parliament which has the authority to impeach him on any issue of impropriety. Bringing him under the ambit of Lokpal would encourage his critics and vested interests to make him dysfunctional by making unfounded allegations,” the letter said.
“Regarding judiciary, I see no reason to bring them under Lokpal because there are many provisions to deal with them. I may mention here that one Supreme Court judge had to face impeachment before Parliament and yet another senior judge is currently faced with the same prospect,” Mr. Sangma said.
Join struggle: NAPM
The National Alliance for People's Movement (NAPM) has extended its support to Mr. Hazare's movement for a corruption-free India and urged the citizens to join the struggle from August 16.
“We strongly disapprove of the way the government has been trying to put severe restrictions on holding peaceful protests in the capital, and the Delhi Police, under the garb of implementing Supreme Court guidelines, are imposing unnecessary conditions on protests,” the NAPM said in a statement here on Sunday.
“We are conscious that the campaign for an effective Lokpal against corruption is not a full and final solution to all that ails our country today. It should be viewed as part of an ongoing process that can be built upon by various groups using myriad democratic styles, strategies, issues and foci,” the statement said.
It said the Lokpal bill drafted by the government was toothless and defeated the very purpose it was meant for. “We believe that any law to deal with corruption must be comprehensive and provide for expeditious action and deal with corruption not only at the higher executive level but also at mid and lower levels and bring politicians and corporations too within its ambit.”
The NAPM called upon the government to pay heed to the diversity of voices and respect the evolving public opinion to introduce a series of fool-proof and effective anti-corruption measures and pass a strong Lokpal Bill, dealing with corruption at all levels, after holding participatory and wide-spread consultations.
The statement was signed among others by Medha Patkar, Sandeep Pandey, Prafulla Samantara, Maj. Gen. Sudhir Vombatkere, Suniti S.R., Sister Celia, P Chennaiah, Ramakrishna Raju, Suhas Kolhekar, Akhil Gogoi, Anand Mazgaonkar, Rajendra Ravi and Madhuresh Kumar.
