More than three months after it was passed by the Aam Aadmi Party-dominated Legislative Assembly with a thumping majority, the fate of the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill continues to hang in the balance.
In fact, The Hindu has reliably learnt from sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), that the Bill is still lying in the proverbial pipeline and is currently pending in the office of Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung.
The main reason, according to sources, is understood to be the jurisdiction of the Bill and whether or not it could empower the Jan Lokpal to admit and investigate complaints related to Central government employees. A senior government official said, “The Bill continues to lie with the L-G and he is yet to forward it to the Ministry; however, the L-G has sent another related communication to the MHA seeking clarifications on few aspects related to the Jan Lokpal Bill.”
Adding that the MHA was “working on it”, the source said that the communication in question was underlined by what Mr. Jung had chosen to describe as “legal repugnancies” on which he was “consulting legal luminaries and experts at his own level to seek more clarity.”
The much-awaited Bill, which had led to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tendering his resignation on February 14, 2014, was finally tabled by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on November 30 last year. Claimed to be “the same Bill which evolved as a result of the Team Anna Struggle of 2011”, the Bill has provisions to ensure time-bound probes and prosecution within six months or 12 months in the rarest cases, powers to confiscate and attach properties of government and private officials involved in corrupt acts and can also sentence someone to life imprisonment as per investigation.
The Bill also contains provisions for the protection of whistle-blowers and powers of provisions of Civil Courts allowing it to take up issues related to corruption both suo motu and on the basis of complaints.
