We are asking this question today because many seem to feel that by legalising lobbying, and thereby creating a transparent and representative system, we can address many of the ills that beset our governance that the Radia tapes symbolise. Lobbying, at present, is hidden from public gaze, conducted in a subversive manner by unseen hands about which people and the legislators in general have no clue and is confined to only a handful of power brokers. It is this underground nature of the operation that makes the journalists susceptible, it is argued.

But there is a flip side to the argument too. Niira Radia was known, at least to the people she was dealing with, to be what she stood for and what she wanted to achieve. So, will legalising lobbying make any material difference to what she or the journalists tainted by the disclosures were up to? Will they be lobbying in any different manner? For example, Radia may publicly disclose her job description, but will she disclose the names of Barkha Dutt or Vir Sanghvi too whom she was using to achieve her goals? Or will Barkha and Vir be making any public disclosure at all about their roles in lobbying? Highly unlikely and hence the attempt to throw open the issue for debate.

Yes, for the sake of clarity, lobbying is neither legal nor illegal in our country.