A day after the Parliamentary Standing Committee attached to the Union Ministry of Personnel finalised its report on the Lokpal Bill, Congress MPs forced the holding of an emergency meeting on Thursday to go back on two key decisions taken on Wednesday: the ruling party MPs on the Standing Committee have now withdrawn the assent they had given to bringing the Group C employees under the purview of the proposed ombudsman, as well going back on the consensus on taking the appointment of the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation out of government hands.
Sources in the Standing Committee told The Hindu that Congress MPs Shantaram Naik and Bhalchandra Mungekar sent a letter on e-mail early on Thursday morning to panel chairman Abhishek Singhvi, expressing their objections to these two decisions, after which an emergency meeting of the committee was called.
On the inclusion of the Group C employees, the letter pointed out that the figure of those who came in this category was not properly assessed: they numbered close to 60 lakh, and if they were to be included in this Bill, then the Lokpal would crumble right at the start.
It would not be practical, the letter said, and if the Lokpal failed to function properly, the government would be blamed. Therefore, this decision should be reviewed and the Group C employees should be excluded from the purview of the Bill. If, at a later stage, it was felt that these employees could be included after the Lokpal started functioning, they said they could be included.
The second issue the letter took up was that of the new procedure recommended for the appointment of CBI Director: the two Congress MPs pointed out that the appointment did not come within the scope of the Lokpal Bill at all, as it came under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act. The Standing Committee, the MPs wrote, therefore, could not make any recommendation on this issue. At the meeting, the MPs also pointed out that the Business Rules mandated that the discussion had to be within the framework of the Bill under discussion.
More ammunition for Opposition
For MPs of the Opposition parties, the Congress going back on the decisions taken on Wednesday has provided more ammunition against the beleaguered party. It has also meant that the Standing Committee will now take another week or so to complete its report. MPs had been given time till Monday to give their dissent notes and the Standing Committee will now meet again on December 7 or 8 to adopt the report.
The first indication that the Congress leadership was unhappy with what transpired on Wednesday came when Law Minister Salman Khurshid was asked to comment on the possible inclusion of Group C employees in the Lokpal Bill.
His response was, “Someone must give us an answer on how 57 lakh officers [who fall in Group C] are to be monitored by nine or 10 or 15 people whatever, how they will be monitored.”
Meanwhile, for the Congress, the only good news was that the Bahujan Samaj Party accepted its line on the Group C issue, leading the Samajwadi Party to talk of a “tacit understanding” between the Congress and the BSP.
