Bill for a strong Lokpal needs a big push

Way back in January, long before Anna Hazare or his campaign for an effective Lokpal became subjects of household discussion, The Times of India had started to push for a relevant and strong anti-corruption law. This was in the backdrop of a series of scams that had shaken the people’s faith in our ability to build a transparent, fair, and just society. We wanted to channel anger and frustration into positive energy for change. This is why, TOI was the first publication to have come out in support of the Bill drafted by Team Anna.

The support, extended through a four-part series on the Bill, was not so much for the fine print as for its bid to reposition the Lokpal from a toothless advisory body to a high-powered and independent agency dealing with public servants of all categories. The Lokpal is necessary and desirable. There is no truly autonomous or empowered body at present to deal with corruption cases involving the political class and the bureaucracy.

The radical experiment of the Lokpal Bill being drafted jointly by the government and civil society has already exceeded expectations. Far from proving to be anti-democratic or counter-productive, Anna Hazare’s Jantar Mantar fast has forced the government to get serious about the anti-corruption law that has been pending for the last 45 years. Despite all the acrimony, there is a grudging acknowledgement from the ministers in the joint drafting committee that this rather dramatic form of pre-legislative consultation has not been in vain. “Our Bill would not have been as good as this. The collaborative effort has given a better Bill,” Salman Khurshid admitted.

The new government draft is very different from the Bill drafted six months ago by the law ministry which had proposed that the Lokpal should be just a recommendatory body of three members, dealing exclusively with political corruption. Now the government version says the Lokpal should be an 11-member body duly empowered to investigate and prosecute corruption cases, not just against politicians but also bureaucrats. In a bid to ensure its autonomy, the government has agreed that the Lokpal would have its own dedicated police force and would require no sanction for investigations.

Still, what we hear more are the divergences. This is not surprising because in any high-stake negotiation the areas of divergence get more attention than the points of convergence. On divergences, the government does not seem to have thought through all its positions. For instance, it has not been able to make a case for why the CBI, despite being notoriously prone to political manipulations, should not be merged with the Lokpal.

We here look at the proposed structure of the Lokpal, its autonomy, its accountability and areas where there are differences between Team Anna and the government. TOI also gives its own view on these areas. We will closely follow the Lokpal Bill as it moves to the Cabinet and from there to Parliament. Indeed, we will continue to do so until there is a strong anti-corruption law.