 "Lieutenant Governor did his job in accordance with what the Centre wanted: Prashant Bhushan")
Do you think it was fair for the AAP government in Delhi to go against the order of the highest constitutional authority in the state and push for the Jan Lokpal Bill?
If the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) is issuing an unconstitutional order — which according to several jurists is unconstitutional — then the chief minister is well within his rights to ignore that. Especially, in the light of the fact that there is a provision in the NCT Act, which says even if any law requires prior approval of the President or the L-G, and if it is passed without the prior approval, this will not make the law invalid so long as it is sent for subsequent approval of the L-G or the President. Even otherwise, this provision for prior approval is irrational. That means the Delhi Assembly can't even pass a Bill.
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Then it could have been stuck there. If they are standing on this technicality, this means there is no intention of allowing the Bill to be passed.
The L-G also had put the House in suspended animation, which the AAP has opposed...
That is illegal, unconstitutional and mala fide. The only reason to put a House in suspended animation can be that there is some possibility of another government being formed. In this case,the BJP and Congress had made it clear that they were not interested. Therefore, where was the possibility of another government being formed?
So, you mean the L-G didn’t do his job?
He did his job in accordance with the way the central government wanted. They wanted to impose President’s Rule without dissolving the Assembly so that they could postpone the elections. This means they will exercise all the powers of the government now. The Delhi government had registered so many First Information Reports and they (Congress) will try and tamper with those.
But,the L-G said most of the decisions the AAP government took would not be rolled back.
They will try and interfere with the investigation by either transferring officers of the anti-corruption branch or replacing them or by bringing in somebody to sit on top of them.
What was the hurry to resign? Why didn’t the party go to public like it did in the case of formation of the government?
The party was formed to bring in the Janlokpal. It didn’t intend to enter politics. We are not in the government to enjoy power, we have come to change the system.
After the Reliance gas issue, some corporate fear that AAP will go for a witch-hunt and this will hamper the investor climate in the country...
Whenever there is some investigation into the misdeeds of those who have been involved in large scale fraud and loot in the country, they start saying the same thing: that it will hurt the investor climate.
On the contrary, investor climate today is hurt because they know that there is no means of doing honest business in the country. Unless they (corporate) bribe people here, they won’t be able to do business. For example, in the US there is a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Even if a US company bribes an Indian official he can be prosecuted in the USA.
Therefore, they don’t want to do business in India in that climate. And they know that if Reliance wants to get into any sector, there is no point in trying to compete with them because even if you have the best bid, you will not get it so long as Reliance is there. This is a fear expressed by precisely those crony capitalists and corrupt corporate who are enjoying the benefits of corruption and preventing the entry of honest companies and businessmen into the field.
In the Reliance gas issue, there was already a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). What was the need to file an FIR? Was it to gain some political advantage?
PIL se kya hota hai (What happens with a PIL)? PIL is only for the purpose of personally cancelling the contracts, recovering penalties from them and then for an in-depth criminal investigation against them.
With an FIR will there be in-depth investigation...?
Why should there not be ? If someone has gone to the court saying that the government is dishonest, it is in collusion with these companies and therefore it is not getting an investigation done, does it mean when an honest government comes and a complaint is made to them, it should not be investigated on the grounds that some PIL is pending? Suppose someone withdraws that PIL - then what? And PILs takes 20 years, does that mean the criminal investigation will wait for 20 years? I have many PILs pending for more than 10 years. Does it mean no investigation should be done when the PIL is asking for precisely this?
It is absurd and those people who are saying this are agents. If you analyse the background of the people who are giving this argument, you will find that most of them have been consultants of Reliance or somehow involved with Reliance or this gas issue.
You have also sought a fresh probe in 2G. what are the other cases you will take up if you come to Parliament?
Wherever there is prima facie evidence of corruption. That is why we are saying there is need for a Lokpal to investigate those matters but these people know half of them will end up in jail. Therefore, they will not allow.
So, does it mean that the party will go for a witch-hunt?
This is not a witch-hunt. Any investigation into a scam is not that. Witch-hunt is when you victamise somebody unnecesarily. When you go and start arresting people, when there is no case for that. This is just an investigation.
In November 2012 at an event you said private sector monopoly is being created in the guise of public-private-partnership (PPP) and that you will allow the private sector in limited areas. Arvind Kejriwal, a few days back, said there is no place for government in business.
This is not business. Water, electricity distribution are not meant to be businesses. They are public services and public utilities. Unfortunately, they have been turned into business. Though these are utilities which are supposed to be run in public interest and are monopolies but they have been turned into businesses of a very corrupt kind where you have a private monopoly created which can extort anything from the people and the people have no choice.
So are you against the PPP model?
I am not against the PPP model but in the guise of PPP, public assets have been given to private players for their profits and private monopolies have also been created. I am against this loot of public resources and creation of private monopoly in the guise of PPP.
Which are the sectors the government should be in?
First, it is those (sectors) which serve the essential needs of the people and where some poor people need to be subsidised. For example, in areas of food, education, health care, etc. Poor people may not be able to afford these services at market price. Therefore, in those sectors, government needs to be there.
Any sector which is a natural monopoly such as water, electricity distribution. There are some people who are saying there can be a model for competition in electricity distribution. I am not sure, though. If you can develop some model then the government need not be there. But if there is no such model and it is a monopoly, then it should be with the public sector. That's my view. So there is no real disagreement between me and Arvind on this issue.
What about the private schools in the country? They serve to a lot of people...
I am not saying if government is there, private sector should not be there. But education should not become a business though this is a sector where private bodies can be allowed but not as a business for profit.
Let’s take this example of cricket. We know that the governing body, BCCI is a private entity. Do you feel there is a need to nationalise that body?
It needs to be regulated. Any body which is utilising government facilities like cricket stadia which are on land owned by the govt needs to be regulated.
So can BCCI be nationalised?
It can be considered. Rahul Mehra has examined that carefully.
You have also once talked about nationalising airports...
I meant that airports are also monopoly sector where there is only one airport in one city, therefore every flight coming into the city lands there. If you leave it to one private firm, they can extort any amount of money they want from the airlines.
Government should not be there in those sector where there can be free competition, which are not in the business of essential services. That is what Arvind (Kejriwal) meant. There is no reason why government should be in manufacturing of shoes, cars, etc. But in essential services, the government needs to be there.