After Parliament agreed to the three key demands of Anna Hazare, the 74-year-old activist ended his 12 day fast. From the earlier insistence of having the Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session, Anna and his team had altered their demand to the passing of a resolution stating that three points of their bill is agreed to by the Parliament. Subsequently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in the Parliament that he would like the Parliament to discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill along with the versions prepared by Aruna Roy and Jayaprakash Narayan.
The government was however keen that it will not pass a resolution with voting as insisted by Anna Hazares group but will, after the discussion, convey the Sense of the House to the Standing Committee. On August 27th, after more than 8 hours of debate both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha under Rule 193, Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee moved a motion conveying the Sense of the House which stated- The House agrees in principle on the following issue of Citizens Charter, Lower Bureaucracy under Lokpal through an appropriate mechanism and establishment of Lokayukta in the States.
He further requested the Speaker to convey the entire proceedings in Parliament to the Standing Committee considering the bill. There was only a thumping of tables and no vote on the resolution in both houses. The Standing Committee is now to peruse these points but is not bound to include them in their final report. When the Parliament finally discusses the Lokpal bill, it is not bound to follow the recommendations of the Standing Committee or the Sense of the House resolution it agreed to.
So despite Parliament agreeing to Annas demands in principle, the form the Lokpal bill will ultimately take is dependent upon the discussions that is to take place in the Standing Committee and the Parliament. The Jan Lokpal bill, along with the versions proposed by Aruna Roy of the National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI) and Jayaprakash Narayan of Loksatta party, have been formally referred to the Standing Committee.
It is to be noted that other than the Government's draft, only Anna Hazares group has a full draft of the Lokpal bill. The NCPRI and Loksatta only have a set of ideas and suggestions on the main provisions of the Bill. The Standing Committee will consider all the four versions and any other suggestions coming to it before the 4th of September.
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Topics |
Govt. Lokpal |
Jan Lokpal |
NCPRI |
Loksatta |
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PM’s Inclusion |
Not Included. Can be investigated after he/she demits office. Can be investigated by CBI as per present laws. |
Included. Can be investigated with permission of seven member Lokpal bench. |
Can be investigated after a full bench of Lokpal and a full bench of the Supreme Court permit. Intelligence and security matters will not be open for investigation and PM will not be vicariously responsible for the actions of colleagues. |
Can be investigated only after sanction of a committee comprising the Vice President, Speaker and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. Matters relating to sovereignty, security, foreign relations and public order and PM’s role as head of Cabinet cannot be investigated. |
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Judiciary |
Not included. Judiciary covered under Judicial Standards and Accountability bill which is before Parliament |
Included. Members of higher judiciary can be investigated with permission of a seven member Lokpal bench. |
Not included. Judges of the higher judiciary to be covered under Nyayapalika Lokpal by strengthening the Judicial Accountability and Standards Bill |
Not Included. A National Judicial Commission should be constituted for judicial appointments and the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill should govern standards |
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MPs conduct within Parliament |
MPs conduct within Parliament cannot be investigated. |
Can be investigated, including offences in respect of voting in Parliament, with permission of seven member Lokpal bench. |
Cannot investigate into any MPs conduct on the floor of the House and in Parliament Committees. |
MPs conduct within Parliament cannot be investigated. |
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Bureaucracy |
Public Servants includes Ministers, MPs and Group A officers of the Central Government |
All public servants as defined in the Prevention of Corruption Act including Ministers, MPs and all central and state government employees. |
Public Servants includes Ministers, MPs and Group A officers of the Central Government. All other officers to be covered by Kendriya Satarkta Lokpal by amending the Central Vigilance Commission Act. |
Public Servants includes Ministers, MPs and Group A officers of the Central Government. Lower officials to be covered by CVC, which will be part of Lokpal as ex-officio members but will function under CVC Act. |
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NGO’s |
All NGOs, receiving funds from government or public are covered |
Only government funded NGOs covered |
Only government funded NGOs covered |
Only NGOs above a certain threshold |
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Citizens Charter |
No provision for a citizens charter or grievance redress mechanism |
Every government department to have a Citizens Charter. Citizens can complain to the lokpal for non-compliance of charter and Lokpal can penalize officers. |
Not included. Grievance redress under a separate legislation- Shikayat Nivaran Lokpal |
Not included. A separate Grievance Redressal Authority should be created at the national level and in each state. |
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Composition of Lokpal |
Chairperson and 8 members. Chairperson shall be Sitting or former CJI or judge of the SC. 4 members to be sitting or former judges of SC or CJs of the HC. |
Chairperson and 10 members. 4 members to have legal background as judge f or 10 years or advocate for 15 years. |
Chairperson and 8 members. Chairperson shall be sitting or former CJI or judge of the SC. 4 members to be sitting or former judges of the SC or CJs of the HC. |
Chairperson and 8 members. Chairperson shall be sitting or former CJI or judge of the SC. 4 members to be sitting or former judges of the SC or CJs of the HC. |
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Selection of Lokpal |
The Selection Committee comprises of: The Prime Minister, Speaker of Loksabha, Leader of Opposition of both houses, a union Cabinet Minister, a sitting SC judge, a sitting Chief Justice HC, one eminent jurist and one person of eminence in public life nominated by the Central Government. Setting up a Search Committee optional |
The Selection Committee comprises of: The Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, two Supreme Court judges, two Chief Justices of High Courts, Chief Election Commissioner, The Comptroller and Auditor general, All previous Chairpersons of the Lokpal. Setting up a Search Committee mandatory |
The Selection Committee comprises of: The Prime Minister, The Leader of Opposition Lok Sabha, One sitting Judge of the Supreme Court. Setting up a Search Committee mandatory |
The Selection Committee comprises of the 9-members in the government Bill but the jurist and eminent citizen should be nominated by the rest of the seven members and not the central government. Setting up a Search Committee optional |
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Removal of Lokpal |
The Lokpal members may be removed by an order made by the President after an inquiry made by the Supreme Court found the member to be biased or corrupt. The President may make a reference for an inquiry to the Supreme on the basis of a complaint by an aggrieved party. |
The Lokpal members may be removed by the President when the Supreme Court recommends the member’s removal. Any citizen can file a petition in the Supreme Court for removal of a Lokpal member. |
The Lokpal members can be removed from his office by order of the President on grounds of misbehaviour after the Supreme Court, on a complaint being made to it, has, on inquiry felt the member ought on any such ground to be removed. |
The Lokpal members may be removed by an order made by the President after an inquiry made by the Supreme Court found the member to be biased or corrupt. The President may make a reference for an inquiry to the Supreme on the basis of a complaint by an aggrieved party. |
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Lokayukta |
No provision for Lokakyukta. Each state can have a separate legislation for a Lokayukta. |
Creates Lokayuktas, with similar powers and functions as the Lokpal, in each of the states and all the state government employees will be under its ambit. |
Creates Lokayuktas, with similar powers and functions as the Lokpal, in each of the states and all the state government employees of will be under its ambit. |
Creates Lokayuktas, with similar powers and functions as the Lokpal. Under Lokayukta, there should be local ombudsmen for each district and city |
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Investigation |
The CBI will remain separate. After preliminary investigation if a prima facie case is made out, the Lokpal will give suitable opportunity to the public servant of being heard. |
Anti-corruption branch of CBI is to be merged into Lokpal. The Lokpal need not give public servant opportunity of being heard. |
The CBI will remain separate. The Lokpal need not give suitable opportunity to the public servant of being heard at preliminary stage. |
Lokpal should have its own machinery for enquiries and can obtain the services of any official towards carrying out enquiries. CVC is to be integrated with Lokpal and the anti-corruption wing of CBI will be accountable only to CVC. |
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Prosecution |
The Lokpal may constitute separate prosecution wings. No sanction from government required to file a case against a public servant. After investigation the Lokpal may file a case in Special Court it constitutes. |
CBI’s prosecution wing will be under Lokpal. After an investigation is completed, the Lokpal may either initiate prosecution in the Special Court or judicial officers in the Lokpal may impose penalty after conducting an inquiry. |
The Lokpal may constitute separate prosecution wings. No sanction from government required to file a case against a public servant. After investigation the Lokpal may file a case in Special Court it constitutes. |
Lokpal shall have powers to appoint all prosecutors and supervise them in all matter relating to all anti-corruption cases and can recommend the constitution of special courts to try corruption. |
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Whistleblowers |
Not Included. Whistle Blowers protection act before parliament. |
Lokpal responsible for investigation of complaints by whistleblowers and provide protection to whistleblowers. |
Not included. Whistleblower protection under Lokrakshak Kanoon by strengthening the Whistleblower Protection bill |
Not included. Whistleblower protection to be covered under Whistleblowers protection bill. |
A game-changing idea on the Lokpal bill came surprisingly from Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, when he suggested in the Parliament that the Lokpal be made a Constitutional authority like the Election Commission. This would require a Constitutional amendment with two-third majority from the Parliament and resolutions adopting the same from at least half of the State Legislatures. Apparently, former Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan had also proposed the same idea in his version of the Lokpal bill.
Apart from being a constitutional authority instead of a statutory authority, the functioning of the Lokpal would not change much regardless of the whether its in the form of a constitutional amendment or not. However the questions over some of the proposals being constitutional (Conduct of MPs within Parliament, Protections for government servants and provision for Lokayukta) can be taken care of by a constitutional amendment. But then again, by the basic structure doctrine, if the constitutional amendments go against the fundamental features of the Constitution, it can be struck down by the Courts.
It remains to be seen whether the Standing Committee would go with the Sense of the House resolution and the spirit of the Jan Lokpal bill or the versions of NCPRI and Loksatta or even propose a Constitutional amendment. Different pressure groups will now be at work and the Parliament will have the final say. Only one thing is sure, the battle for Lokpal is far from over.
