Criticism is growing from even those critical of Anna Hazare’s views and methods of the government decisions on the revised Lok Pal Bill.
Aruna Roy and the network of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), earlier critical of Hazare, are now backing him on his strong critique of the changes. It is also represented in the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council. It says the proposed ombudsman lacks teeth and will not be much use in fighting corruption.
Nikhil De, leading member of NCPRI, said a Lok Pal without control over CBI was not going to achieve much. What it has been given are only powers of preliminary inquiry and not of investigation.
Venkatesh Nayak, co-convenor of NCPRI, as well as member of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, says the Lokayukta in Karnataka has at least a police force to investigate complaints. The Central Vigilance Commission also have no investigative machinery. They are dependent on government agencies and, hence, cannot achieve much, he says.
CBI’s former special director, M L Sharma, agrees. The power to hold an inquiry means nothing, he says. Only on investigation can you send a case to a court of law. If the objective is to keep CBI independent, then it should have made provision for a new investigative agency under the Lok Pal, he says.
Activists and former CBI hands feel the Bill’s treatment of CBI, rather than contributing to increasing its independence from political pressures, would make it more of a puppet in political hands. “There is a conspiracy by all political parties to keep CBI within reach of political powers,” says Sharma. “It does not suit them to make it independent.” However, he agrees the change in how to appoint its head is a positive step. That apart, there has been a regressal on autonomy.
