Ignoring a boycott of today’s scheduled meeting of the drafting committee on the Lok Pal bill by activists, in the wake of the crackdown on yoga guru Ramdev, the government just went ahead.
That was after minister Kapil Sibal, a key figure in both the pre-crackdown talks and also on the drafting panel, said they were rejecting the verbal assaults and demands for resignation voiced by various sections following the police action.
"We’ve been called all sorts of names - cheats, liars. This is unacceptable. Institutions of democracy cannot be undermined," he said.
And so, a meeting was held today of the Lok Pal drafting committee, boycotted by the civil society members, who also demanded that as the government could not be trusted, there must be a public telecast of all dealings they would have with it in the future. The committee has five ministers and five members from social worker Anna Hazare’s team.
Lawyer Shanti Bhushan today wrote a letter to the government saying no purpose would be served by attending the meeting today, in view of how the government had dealt with thousands of protestors who were also demanding an end to corruption.
Sibal said several chief ministers, the head of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others had sent their suggestions about what shape the institution of the Lok Pal should have. These would be taken on board., and if anyone else had suggestions, those would be incorporated as well.
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Adding: "Many issues they (Hazare’s team) raise are very extraneous and have nothing to do with the proceedings of the committee." He particularly referred to Hazare raising the issue of the Ramlila Maidan episode and questioned how it was linked with drafting of the bill.
He also read out to journalists portions of BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s letter, which addressed several concerns about including the Prime Minister in the ambit of the Lok Pal.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said proper channels needed to be followed to elicit the opinions of CMs and he could not become part of a freewheeling discussion on the powers and functions of a Lok Pal.