Civil society member on the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill, Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday ruled out the resignation of co-chairman Shanti Bhushan from the panel in the wake of the Noida farm plot allotment issue. He said they would remain focussed on drafting an effective Lokpal Bill.
“There is no element of truth in the entire malicious campaign,” Mr. Kejriwal said at a news conference here. The former IPS officer and leading member of India Against Corruption, Kiran Bedi, was present.
“There was no allotment of the Noida farm plot from the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's discretionary quota as is being made out. A scheme was advertised under which they applied,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
In another development, Mr. Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant Bhushan, who are on the joint drafting committee, have filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking an independent Special Investigation Team probe into the CD that features Mr. Shanti Bhushan purportedly in conversation with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh and the former SP member, Amar Singh, allegedly on a legal deal. The CD was forensically investigated by the Delhi police, and the report by the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory says it does not seem to be doctored, though it recommended further examination.
Mr. Kejriwal said there was no wrongdoing by the Bhushans. “The CD was got examined by the Bhushans in forensic lab in the United States and in Truth Labs in Hyderabad and found to be fabricated.” If the Delhi police had a different version, let an independent inquiry, supervised by the Supreme Court, go into it, he added.
To a barrage of questions on the justification of appointing two members of the same family on the committee, Mr. Kejriwal said the Bhushans were taken because they, along with Justice Santosh Hegde and himself, had drafted the Jan Lokpal Bill and their expertise was required.
Asked about a statement by Justice Hegde on the controversy, Mr. Kejriwal countered: “If the panel were to crack and the process derailed, who will benefit and whose loss will it be? This historic opportunity may not come again. Let us focus on drafting a Bill that is strong, accountable and effective.”
Reiterating the demand for the proceedings of the joint committee to be videographed, Mr. Kejriwal said they would upload a new website to invite suggestions and feedback on the draft Jan Lokpal Bill. Ms. Bedi said the civil society members' suggestion to include the Leader of the Opposition in the panel had been rejected by the government.
Speaking informally to journalists at his residence here, Mr. Amar Singh said he supported the demands for the resignation of Mr. Shanti Bhushan.
“For five years, I have been saying that the 2006 CD featuring me is morphed and doctored but it was not believed and now when it came to Mr. Shanti Bhushan, his son Prashant is saying that it is fabricated.”
Asked if indeed he had had such a conversation with Mr. Shanti Bhushan as is purported to have taken place in the new CD, Mr. Amar Singh said: “I won't say anything. This is a banned CD. There is an injunction on it by the Supreme Court. This is an illegal CD that has surfaced.”
