Standing Committee to finalise strong Lokpal Bill draft:Paswan

Says panel likely to take three months to deliberate upon various aspects of the proposed bill before making a recommendation to the govt

PTI | August 29, 2011



LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan on Monday said the parliamentary standing committee, of which he is a member, that is looking into the Lokpal Bill will finalise a strong draft that will work for the eradication of corruption.

"We will discuss various drafts on the Lokpal Bill that has come to the parliamentary standing committee, including the three-point agenda of team Anna....We will endeavour to come up with the best possible piece of legislation on the Lokpal issue with a goal to ensure eradication of corruption," he told reporters in Patna.

The LJP chief said the members of the Committee have no difference of opinion among themselves on the contours of the Lokpal Bill.

On a time-frame for finalisation of the draft, Paswan said it will take about three months to deliberate upon various aspects of the proposed bill before making a recommendation to the government.

On Team Anna's earlier demand of passing a "strong" Lokpal Bill by August 30, Paswan said the deadline was impractical and an attack on the supremacy of parliament.

"Parliament can not be coerced to act on any draft in a given time-frame," he said.

The LJP chief congratulated Anna Hazare for carrying out a crusade against corruption that caught the attention of the people and the nation but disapproved of the path adopted by the team Anna to foist their agendas on parliament and the central government.

"The supremacy of constitution and parliamentary democracy is paramount", Paswan observed and said that Team Anna should have observed the same stand which they ultimately did as parliament debated the Lokpal Bill last week and referred it to the Standing Committee for taking a final view in the matter.

It was a win-win situation for all stakeholders in the crusade against corruption and not a victory for one group and defeat for another, he said.

While conceding that the team Anna enployed massive public support on their crusade against corruption, Paswan alleged that the Sangh Parivar did back the civil society in its prolonged agitation to press for demand for inclusion of their three-point agendas in the proposed lokpal bill.

Paswan, at the same time, expressed doubt over the viability of the inclusion of the state Lokayuktas under the ambit of the proposal Lokpal and said that the states may raise question at a later stage about encroachment on the principles of federal polity.

"The state governments may be silent for now on the demand for the state Lokayuktas to be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal, but they may raise the issue at a later stage, including the NDA governments in the states," he said.

The LJP chief was also cynical about the success of the Lokpal in the crusade against corruption with the central and state government employees comprising its vigilance team and said that it was hard to accept that the vigilance sleuths under the Lokpal would overnight change their mindset.

Paswan further raised a question mark on composition of the proposed Lokpal which will comprise retired judges and members of the civil society and said there should be provision for representation of elected representatives in the Lokpal team to give it wider acceptance and credibility in the battle ahead against corruption.

Paswan demanded inclusion of various groups of people, including backward communities, SC/ST, women and minorities, in the committee to be set up for selecting members of Lokpal apparently for giving a broadbased representation to society in the anti-corruption watchdog.

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