Led by Aruna Roy, the National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information on Thursday demanded to know why the winter session of Parliament was curtailed despite across-the-board political consensus on the passage of key accountability Bills. Ms. Roy said while the NCPRI welcomed the passage of the Lokpal Bill, the law needed to operate in conjunction with other anti-corruption legislation to complete the accountability architecture.
Ms. Roy, who was accompanied by Nikhil Dey and Anjali Bharadwaj of the NCPRI, pointed to the irony of the Parliament session being adjourned sine die even as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was seeking an extension of the session to pass a slew of pending anti-corruption bills, among them The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill; The Whistleblowers Protection Bill; and The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill.
Speaking on the Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Mr. Gandhi said: “I believe it is our responsibility to complete our unfinished work in our fight against corruption. I believe it is the responsibility of the Fifteenth Lok Sabha to consider and enact all six pending anti-corruption Bills.” Mr. Gandhi then turned to the Speaker and asked: “Can we not extend this session to complete the passage of these Bills and provide this country with the framework to fight corruption? This is not about one Bill; this is about the framework and we would like to deliver that framework to the country.”
Ms. Roy said Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal had made a similar plea for extension of the winter session to pass the accountability bills while debating the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha: “Let us all try and work extra hours to bring these Bills to the House and have them passed.”
On the same day, Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Arun Jaitley sought the immediate passage of the Citizens Charter Bill, saying there is no controversy around this Bill; its passage will improve administration and we need to pass it without further loss of time.
Mr. Dey and Ms. Bharadwaj said they were unable to comprehend the reluctance to bring forward Bills on which there was political unanimity. “From the Left parties and the BJP to the Janata Dal (United), there is complete agreement on the necessity to pass these Bills. Even the Samajawadi Party [which opposed the Lokpal Bill] has no objections to these Bills.”
