NEW DELHI: The
Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to keep the office of the prime minister outside the fold of the proposed
Lokpal, overruling
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself. The judiciary and conduct of
MPs in Parliament was also kept outside its ambit.
The deliberations of over two hours saw Singh making an argument for inclusion of his office within the Lokpal's ambit, only to run into resistance by the overwhelming majority in the Cabinet.
The revised draft provides for the majority of the nine-member Lokpal to be drawn from among people with legal background: a concession to the squabble that the quasi-judicial body will require people with understanding of law and legal practices. In another significant addition, any trust or body including
NGOs that receive public funds will come under Lokpal's scrutiny.
Defence minister A K Antony, I&B minister
Ambika Soni, telecom minister Kapil Sibal and rural development minister Jairam Ramesh supported the prime minister. Ramesh spoke forcefully, saying there should be emphasis on clearness. But the group found itself overwhelmed by the argument of the majority that this would be a recipe for destabilization, and would leave his office hobbled. "It is not a matter of an individual but that of an institution", was the dominant refrain.
Interestingly, three former
chief ministers of Maharashtra in the Cabinet - agriculture ministerSharad Pawar, power minister
Sushil Kumar Shinde and science and technology minister Vilasrao Deshmukh - were among the most vocal in opposing the PM's suggestion. The troika from transparency activist Anna Hazare's home state cited their experience to argue that NGOs and civil society would target the PM if he was exposed to Lokpal.
UPA ally DMK had spoken in favour of bringing the PM within the ambit of Lokpal but chemicals and fertilisers minister M K Alagiri, now the party's sole representative in the Cabinet, was not present at the meeting.
Finance minister Pranab Mukhejee said tabling of the bill could not be delayed and that disagreements over whether the PM should be within the scope could be hashed out within the standing committee. Urban growth minister Kamal Nath said the bill should provide for creation of similar anti-corruption ombudsmen in states.
The bill will be introduced in Parliament in the first two days of the monsoon session beginning on Monday.
The nine-member Lokpal will include a chairperson who will be a serving or retired chief justice or judge of the SC and 50% of its eight members will have judicial background.
The bill cleared by the Cabinet has introduced a seven-year limit to filing of complaint from the day the offence was committed. In a departure from its original draft, the government also changed the establishment of the selection committee together with the PM, Speaker, Leader of Opposition in both Houses, one Cabinet minister, one sitting chief justice of a High Court, one sitting judge of Supreme Court, one eminent jurist and an eminent person. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, law minister
Salman Khursheed said the bill approved by the Cabinet had included 34 of the 40 suggestions made by Hazare's representatives. Asked if Hazare was challenging the government, Khursheed retorted, "They are not challenging the government but Parliament.'"
The judiciary has not been included in the bill as its autonomy and independence should be maintained, Khursheed said, adding that a separate Judicial responsibility Bill was introduced in Parliament. Similarly, the citizen's charter will be dealt with in a separate legislation for public grievances.
The removal of Lokpal will be the prerogative of the President. While the Lokpal will have separate teams to conduct inquiries and investigations, it will not have the power to prosecute someone accuse of corruption. Besides, it would also take up corruption matters involving ministers, MPs, Group 'A' officers and others equal to this grade in any body, board, authority, corporation, trust, society or autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament and funded by public money. The Lokpal would not require sanction or approval under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or Section 19 of the
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, in cases where prosecution is proposed.
