Members of erstwhile Team Anna on Friday accused political parties of being together in corruption and benefiting from the “loot” of natural resources.
Following the tabling in Parliament of CAG reports on coal block allocation, power, and the Delhi airport, they pressed their demand for setting up an independent special investigation team of Supreme Court judges to probe charges of corruption against top politicians.
“We have just one question. Prime Minister, please tell us, where should we go to register an FIR on the basis of these CAG reports? All the agencies are under your control. All are under you, and that is why we are demanding a strong Lokpal,” said activist Arvind Kejriwal.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We say all parties are involved in this loot of natural resources and no one wants to pass the Lokpal Bill. The States have benefited the private companies. Even the CPI (M) in West Bengal was a silent spectator to this corruption. They also didn’t oppose the decision to allot coal blocks to private parties [when they were in power],” he said.
According to him, had Jan Lokpal been there, then on the basis of the CAG report, they would have complained, and in six months, the probe would have been completed. In one year, the case would have been completed, and the accused sent to jail in 18 months.
An FIR, he said, should be registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the three CAG reports underlined the fact that there had been loss of lakhs of crores of valuable, scarce natural resources and public assets. It shows how public-private partnerships had become an euphemism for using public resources and assets for private profits.
The windfall allowed to GMR when the Airports Authority of India was made to part with prised land allocated to it for commercial development showed the unprecedented scale of “loot” in the country. The recent huge airport development fee, which burdened the aam admi, brought a profit of approximately Rs. 3400 crore to GMR, making the Delhi airport the most expensive in the country.
“This shows the unprecedented scale of loot and corruption that is going on in this country. The question is will it ever stop? How and who will?” he added.