A dissection of Lokpal Bill (Government version)

In this post, my attempt is to show you, why and how weak the Government version of the Lokpal Bill is. This list is not exhaustive, however I hope to cover at least the very important clauses (THIRTEEN of them in no particular order), which would expose the double standards and lack of sincerity of our Government in tabling this bill. This post is also meant for those who would want to see the facts, before they believe it (have taken excerpts from the Bill, quoting the Section numbers); I hope I will save you the time, you would require otherwise.

At the end of the post, I hope you realize that, in its present shape, the Bill will serve no purpose. I hope all of you will scorn the fact that it just wont be able to stand the rotten scoundrels out there (which we are blessed with so many); and if you agree to this, do extend your support to this fight against corruption. This is perhaps our last and only chance!

Points to note:

1. I speak for no political party.
2. I am not a lawyer; and I cant say that I can understand any legal document perfectly. Nope! However, I have put in a genuine attempt, in the last two days, to go through all the relevant documents (links to which are available at the end of the post), and I can now say that I have a good understanding of these Bills.
3. It is my first time that I am going through such a piece of document; however, I found this particular Bill very interesting. Lots of loopholes and manholes and potholes and what not; the plot is so good; it is much more than what we see in movies! You wont believe that someone can go this low...

Point ONE:
Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter II: ESTABLISHMENT OF LOKPAL
Topic: Not specified
Section 3.(2)
The Lokpal shall consist of -
(a) a Chairperson; and
(b) ten Members, out of whom at least four shall be Judicial Members

Section 3.(3)
A person shall be eligible to be appointed, -
(a) as the Chairperson or a Member if he is a person of impeccable integrity, outstanding ability and standing having special knowledge of, and professional experience of not less than twenty-five years in, public affairs, administrative law and policy, academics, commerce and industry, law, finance or management;

In a totally unrelated development; the Government is planning to have the following ad in all leading dailies: "WANTED: Alive but dead; six rubber stamps for the vacancies of Lokpal members. Job Description below:" And as you guessed it right, that was the end of the ad as well - without any job description!!!

Point TWO:
Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter II: ESTABLISHMENT OF LOKPAL
Topic: Appointment of Chairperson and other Members and Selection Committee
Section 4.(1)
The Chairperson and Members shall be appointed by the President after obtaining the recommendations of a Selection Committee consisting of -
(a) the Prime Minister - Chairperson;
(b) the Speaker of the House of the People - member;
(c) the Leader of the House other than the House in which the Prime Minister is a Member of Parliament - member;
(d) the Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Government of Inida - member;
(e) the Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People - member;
(f) the Leader of the Opposition in the Council of States - member;

The list has four more members; anyway of the ten members, six are politicians! What an idea sirji! The politicans realize "United we stand; divided we fall!" Six of ten would ensure the majority for them during the selection process

Point THREE:
Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter VII: PROCEDURE IN RESPECT OF INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION

Topic: Action on inquiry in relation to public servants not being ministers or Members of Parliament

Section 27.(1)
Where after the conclusion of the inquiry or investigation, the findings of Lokpal disclose the commission of an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 by a public servant referred to in clause (c) or (d) of sub-section (1) of section 17, the Lokpal may -
(b) recommend to the competent authority the initiation of disciplinary proceedings under the rules of disciplinary proceedings applicable to such public servant;

So who is the "competent authority" in this case?

Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter I: PRELIMINARY

Topic: Not Specified

Section 2.(1).(c)
"competent authority", in relation to -
(iii) an officer in the Ministry or Department of the Central Government means the Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department under which such officer is serving

The "competent authority" in this case is the concerned Minister. Continuing Point THREE; let us see what the Bill proposes for the recommendation from Lokpal.

Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter VII: PROCEDURE IN RESPECT OF INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION

Topic: Action on inquiry in relation to public servants not being ministers or Members of Parliament

Section 27.(2)
The competent authority shall, within a period of thirty days of the receipt of recommendation under clause (b) of sub-section (1), initiate disciplinary proceedings against the delinquent public servant accused of committing offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and forward its comments on the report, including the action taken or proposed to be taken thereon, to the Lokpal ordinarily within six months of initiation of such disciplinary proceedings.

So what Point THREE says is that Lokpal can just send its recommendations; but it is up to the concerned Minister to decide the final action. The day is not long when we would see the Minister give the officer a pat on his back, for his impeccable track record of not having missed any opportunity to get bribe from the ordinary citizen!

Point FOUR:
Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter VII: PROCEDURE IN RESPECT OF INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION
Topic: Action on inquiry in relation to public servants being ministers or Members of Parliament
Section 28.(1).(1)
Where after the conclusion of the inquiry or investigation, the findings of Lokpal disclose the commission of an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 by a public servant referred to in clause (a) or (b) of sub-section (1) of section 17, the Lokpal may -
(b) recommend to the competent authority the initiation of disciplinary proceedings under the rules of disciplinary proceedings applicable to such public servant;

So who is the "competent authority" in this case? 

Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter I: PRELIMINARY

Topic: Not Specified

Section 2.(1).(c)
"competent authority", in relation to -
(i) a member of the Council of Ministers, means the Prime Minister;
(ii) a member of the Parliament other than a Minister means the Council of States in the case of a member of that Council and the House of the People in the case of a member of that House;

The "competent authority" in this context is either the PM or the Council of States or the House of the People. Coming back to Point FOUR; let us see what the Bill proposes for the recommendation from Lokpal.

Government Lokpal Bill (21st June, 2011 04:00 PM)
Chapter VII: PROCEDURE IN RESPECT OF INQUIRY AND INVESTIGATION

Topic: Action on inquiry in relation to public servants being ministers or Members of Parliament

Section 28.(3)
The competent authority shall examine the report forwarded to it under sub-section (1) and communicate to the Lokpal, within a period of ninety days from the date of receipt of the report, the action taken or proposed to be taken on the basis of the report.

So what Point FOUR says is that Lokpal can just send its recommendations; but it is up to PM or the Council of States or the House of the People (as the case might be) shall decide the final action. I guess that would be some sort of performance appraisal, where they would be given feedback for their case history and also new targets for the next reporting period!

God save us...

Today, I saw a nine year old praying to God: "Dear God, can you spare us a backbone; for I hear our you-know-whom hasn't got one!"

Black Money Challenge!
Still cant digest how any government can go this far to protect its corrupt politicians, dishonest officials or scandalous industrialists!

• The Government should immediately make public the list of black money holders, which was shared by Germany way back in 2010; and also take stern & exemplary action against all of them, irrespective of their background (party/ religion/ position).
• Black money should be declared as national wealth!

Jan Lokpal Bill!
We don't want the Draft Lokpal Bill, for the namesake! My heartfelt support to team Anna Hazaare.

• Jan Lokpal Bill is the way to go...
• PM should be within the ambit of the bill!

Ram-Leela Maidan Mess!
Whatever be the real motives of Baba Ramdev (which the Government says that it is going to bring to light); it was inhumane and anti-democratic to end a peaceful strike by brutal force. Our PM calls it unfortunate but unavoidable.

• The PM (I mean the one with the turban) should take moral responsibility for the attack & apologize for bringing shame to the nation for not being able to uphold our constitutional values!

A scam a day!
The last couple of months, its been raining scams. We are very grateful to the government, for these eye-openers; we never dreamt it could be this worse. The government will definitely stand by those who have stood for them, so we don't expect any actions from the Government!

• Can the judiciary intervene by itself and help ensure justice to us, the stupid tax payers?

With all due respect to my nation, Jai Hind! God save us!

Mismanaged projects & a rotten system! One possible way forward...

This post has turned out to be a long one; request all to read till the very end. Starting with the NH issue, we move on to the root cause of such issues (which all of us actually knows deep inside) and we then move on to a possible way forward for us. Do try to read till end, and let me know your thoughts...

I stand with the people who are being affected because of the road widening. I do not think, any solution to the problem with the people being displaced becoming losers (in any way), is the right way forward. None of us, including those out there who are fighting tooth & nail for wider roads, would want the people who are being affected to be thrown out to the streets or to be at the mercy of the government. No, lets not call that development!

But then, does that necessarily mean that we ought to stick to smaller roads? I do not agree...

We want better infrastructure, we want planned, organic & sustainable development! We are a young country, youth being a significant percentage of the population! We want more & more job opportunities to be created here; and this has to happen before our so called human capital becomes a human liability for ourselves! If wider roads would mean more opportunities for the youth in any way, then we ought to have it!

Now from another perspective. Every day, we see more & more vehicles on the road. Dozens of people die every day in the highways & hundreds suffer major accidents; if wider, well planned roads could make that figure come down by at least 50%, wouldn't that alone be a reason for us to have wider roads in our state.

Doing nothing now is living a slow death! Unless we take the "right" decision right now, its just a matter of years, before we see our state choking to death.