New Delhi:
The final meeting on the Lokpal Bill has ended without any consensus. "We agreed to disagree," said Kapil Sibal, who is one of the five ministers on the committee. They've been working with five activists headed by Gandhian Anna Hazare in developing a new law tackled to combat corruption among politicians and bureaucrats.
(Watch)The activists on what's referred to as the Joint Drafting Committee say that the government seems bent on introducing a new law that has no teeth. "It's largely a symbolic effort," said Prashant Bhushan, an activist-member of the committee. There are a total of eight major points of difference including who should select the 11 members of the Lokpal (ombudsman) and whether the new law should apply to the Prime Minister's Office. The polarized stands of the ministers and the activists have led to two versions of the Lokpal bill.
(Read: Team Anna's draft of Lokpal Bill)In the next two or three days, Mr Sibal said, Team Anna will share its comments on the ministers' draft of the Lokpal Bill. That will then be circulated among political parties. A formal meeting with other parties will be scheduled in July to discuss the Bill, which will then be forwarded to the Cabinet. The version that the Cabinet approves of will be tabled in parliament
in the monsoon session, which is scheduled to begin on August 1.
(Read: What's on offer in Ministers' draft of Lokpal Bill)Arvind Kejriwal, a member of Team Anna, elaborated on what he described as serious shortcomings in the ministers' view of the Lokpal. "Both the selection and removal of the 11 Lokpal members will be the prerogative of the government," he said. The government, he explained, wants the selection committee for the Lokpal Bill to consist of five members of the ruling party and five other politicians.
(Watch: Team Anna 'deeply disappointed) Yesterday, the ministers had said that the government alone should have the right to move the Supreme Court to dismiss a member of the Lokpal; the activists believe all citizens should be able to do this.
The Joint Drafting Committee with its unique combination of elected and non-elected representatives was formed in April after Mr Hazare undertook a lengthy hunger strike against corruption. His call-to-action resounded with middle class India which unconditionally backed his movement- India Against Corruption. (
Read: Anna warns of second fast)
The government was forced to sanction Mr Hazare's demand - that civil society representatives be given a formal role in the drafting of the much-delayed Lokpal Bill.