Lokpal Bill: Anna Hazare rejects the draft report, threatens agitation

The prospect of a third round of confrontation between the Manmohan Singh government and Team Anna loomed large on Tuesday with the Opposition set to reject the draft report of the parliamentary standing committee on Lokpal bill and civil society up in arms against the proposal to include NGOs and media and exclude lower bureaucracy, citizen's charter and CBI's anti-corruption wing from the proposed anti-graft body.

Copies of the draft Lokpal bill, circulated among members of the parliamentary panel on Monday, did not enthuse the Opposition or civil society spearheading the campaign for a strong Lokpal.

Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, when asked for her party's reaction to the document, said BJP members on the standing committee would air their views at its last two rounds of meetings on Wednesday and Thursday. Party leaders, however, trashed the draft report, arguing that its recommendations, if accepted, would render Lokpal without much muscle. With the standing committee unable to take a call on including the office of the prime minister under Lokpal's purview, BJP and Left parties were set to oppose the relevant clauses in the draft document.

Team Anna, which has been warning the government against going back on its promise to set up a strong Lokpal, is now bracing to launch the third chapter of its movement. Anna Hazare, the anti-graft crusader, has already announced that he would sit on a day-long dharna at Jantar Mantar on December 11, and also sought MCD's permission to hold a protest at the Ramlila Maidan from December 27.

"The Standing Committee report is out, we may have to restart agitation. We will fast on December 11 at Jantar Mantar,'' Anna told newspersons in his village, Ralegan Siddhi on Tuesday evening.

Expressing disappointment over the recommendations contained in the standing committee's draft report, Hazare's colleague Arvind Kejriwal sought to remind the government of the parliamentary resolution that had prompted the activist to end his fast on August 28, and said he hoped it would be respected.

"When Anna ended his fast, Parliament agreed to a resolution that stated clearly on lower bureaucracy and Citizen's Charter. We just hope that resolution is respected,'' he said.

Civil society members, including Team Anna, were upset over what they felt was part of a project undertaken by the government to rein in NGOs, and bring them under Lokpal lens. The draft report penciled by the standing committee has recommended that all NGOs, media firm or companies wholly or partly financed by the government will come under Lokpal scrutiny.

Team Anna Accuses Govt Of Reducing Lokpal To Empty Tin Box

Accusing the government of reducing the proposed Lokpal to an “empty tin box with no powers”, Team Anna today said they were surprised at the move to exclude Citizen’s Charter and lower bureaucracy from the ambit of the ombudsman, contrary to a Parliament resolution. 
 
“The government proposes to remove CBI, judiciary, citizen charter, whistle blower protection, Group C and Group D employees and CBI from Lokpal jurisdiction. Wouldn’t that reduce Lokpal to an empty tin box with no powers and functions?” a Team Anna statement said.
 
The statement said Hazare suspended his fast in August on the basis of a resolution passed by Parliament which was termed as ‘Sense of House’ by some people but was referred to as a ‘resolution’ by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his letter to the Gandhian.

“This resolution clearly stated that three issues would be addressed through the Lokpal Bill namely Lokayuktas in states would be created through the same bill and lower bureaucracy and citizens charter would be included in the lokpal bill.

“However we are surprised that contrary to that resolution, the government proposes to exclude citizen charter and lower bureaucracy from Lokpal’s jurisdiction and bring a weak and ineffective bill to deal with citizens grievances,” it said noting that the reports filtering out of Standing Committee discussions were a cause of concern.

Demanding inclusion of Group C and D employees under the ambit of Lokpal, Team Anna said they strongly oppose the move to exclude the lower bureaucracy.

“Would this mean that they could indulge in corruption and they would not be investigated by any agency? Aren’t we giving them a license to indulge in corruption? A common man has to deal with Group C and Group D employees on a daily basis. Lakhs of people who participated in this anti-corruption movement wanted a solution to this day to day corruption,” they said.

On the issue of keeping CBI out of Lokpal’s control, Team Anna said the Standing Committee proposal on the agency would reduce Lokpal to merely a post office—receive complaints, forward it to CBI, receive CBI’s report and present it before the court.

They also demanded that criminal investigation of judges, which has been left out of Judicial Accountability Bill, should now be included in the Lokpal Bill.