Former chief justice of India J S Verma has said that considering the ramifications it can have, the prime minister should be kept out of the ambit of the proposed Lokpal bill. “Prime minister should be kept out of the ambit (of the Lokpal) because of the larger national interest it involves,” Justice Verma said at an all- India anti- corruption summit held in the capital on Wednesday..

He added that there were provisions in the democracy to deal with corrupt practices in the prime minister’s office. “We have elections and a parliament to do that and it should be left to them.”

Commenting on the differences of opinion in the civil society regarding the matter, he said, “There is no fracture in the civil society on the issue of Lokpal bill. All of them want them thing, though they may have different views on how to achieve it."

About the powers and functions of the proposed Lokpal bill, he said, “We should not be carried away by the thought that Lokpal will solve every issue. With all the regard to the subject and the proposed institution, I would say that everything should be done within the constitutional framework.”

“Lokpal cannot be a superpower taking over the governance of the entire country and an attempt to bring everything under the Lopkpal will not work. Every fault cannot be corrected by a law. There are parliamentary processes to ensure that there is no instability in the country,” he added.

Delivering the opening address at the seminar, Aruna Maira, member of the planning commission said that while dealing with corruption, it was very important to differentiate between the corruption of greed and corruption and need. “We should know when need ends and greed begins,” said he.

Maira added that the energy of the civil society should be channelised towards the implementation of existing laws rather than making new ones.

Nikhil Dey of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) emphasised on the need of empowering the citizens to weed out corruption. Giving the example of the initial days of the right to information (RTI) movement in the villages of Rajasthan, Nikhil said, “Imbalance of power is at the root of corruption and empowering people is the only way to tackle it. For solution, we need to create institutions where people can monitor things. We need an environment where they can speak up."