UPA ministers on Monday made it clear to civil society members of the joint drafting committee of the Lok Pal bill that it will not bring the Prime Minister under the purview of the Lok Pal as long as he is in office. “Let us agree to disagree”, Finance Minister and chairman of the drafting committee Pranab Mukherjee told the panel meeting.
While the two sides could bury their differences on many issues, the two sides could not reach common ground on six major issues, government sources told Business Standard. These include the penal provisions for erring bureaucrats and ministers, protection to whistle blowers and role of the CAG. The civil society said the quantum of punishment should be proportionate to the rank or status of the accused, while government managers felt punishment should be linked to the nature and degree of culpability.
Top sources in the government claimed they were hopeful that other political parties will support the UPA’s stand on many issues, especially on the question of the inclusion of the Prime Minister under Lok Pal. The biggest ally of the Congress in second UPA, Trinamool Congress on Monday made it clear that it will support the government in its tussle with civil society. After meeting Mukherjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: “We are against corruption. But we are also against drama. It is not correct to think every politician is a criminal.”
| SNAPSHOT |
| ITEMS OF AGREEMENT IN TODAY'S MEETING |
| * Financial independence |
| * Control of employees |
| * Selection process to start 3 months in advance |
| * Powers to issue letter rogatory |
| * Every complaint to be disposed of |
| * Complete transparency |
| * To publish status of cases |
| ITEMS OF DISAGREEMENT IN TODAY'S MEETING |
| * Protection to whistleblowers |
| * Punishment to culprits |
| * CAG can forward cases |
In tomorrow’s meeting, expected to be the last one, the two sides are likely to exchange their respective draft bills to prepare the final draft for the Union cabinet which will contain two versions of the clauses on contentious issues.
While the Government is all set to take the Lok Pal draft Bill to other political parties in an all party meet on July 7, the team led by Anna Hazare was planning to meet political parties to create awareness about the various issues before the all party meet.
After several rounds of discussions, Arvind Kejriwal, a civil society representative wanted to submit their draft on Monday itself. But Mukherjee and HRD minister Kapil Sibal refused to take the “uncleaned” draft. The civil society was told to submit their clean draft on Tuesday. The government too, will be working overtime to prepare its final draft. The law secretary along with other key bureaucrats arrived at North Block to make the final draft on behalf of the government.
Monday’s meeting, which started at 11 am at the finance ministry office, was essentially a tussle between legal brains of both sides. After his opening remarks, Mukherjee said the meeting will primarily discuss legal nitty-gritty and allowed the legal experts to start the debate. While Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bushan and Santosh Hegde fielded for the civil society, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister M Veerappa Moilly and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal defended the government’s stand.
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After emerging out of the meeting, Sibal claimed that the Government had agreed on 85 per cent of the points raised in the Lok Pal Bill by the civil society group.
Both Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, however, said the government was yet to agree on major points concerning selection, powers and jurisdiction, and removal of the Lok Pal. The so-called three points of disagreement hardly reflected the huge differences the government had on more than half the points in the Lok Pal Bill, they said.
However, Kejriwal said the agreement on the powers to the Lok Pal to issue a letter rogatory was a great achievement for the Lok Pal.