After a not-so-pleasant experience of engaging with Anna Hazare's team in drafting a Lok Pal Bill, the government says there will be no such experiment in the future.
“In the given situation, the government was in, it is a decision that we took with open eyes and I don't consider it to be a precedent... The government was in a particular situation," said Union human rsource development minister Kapil Sibal, a key member of the now-defunct joint committee.
Asked if it was a "one-off" episode, the noted lawyer-turned-politician said, "I would imagine so." Adding the draft prepared by the five ministers was not the "final bill". “It will go through changes when we get inputs not just from other political parties but also other members of civil society," he said. he government is holding a meeting with political parties on the issue on July 3.
Sibal refused to comment on Hazare's decision to go on a hunger strike again from August 16, saying, "When that situation arises, I am sure the government will deal with it." Noting that Hazare's own associates, Santosh Hegde and Agnivesh, had publicly said a fast was not the recommended way forward, the minister said he was sure the Gandhian "has the wisdom to decide what is best for him and the country".
He maintained that Hazare and his associates had wanted to create an authority outside the system which would be "accountable to nobody" and asserted this could not be allowed to happen.
Asked why the committee could not agree on a common draft and wound up work in bitterness, Sibal said, "On certain very significant issues, there was a huge divergence of perception and opinion, and the twain could not meet."
The committee met nine times during the two months of its existence. It was decided that a note including the views of both the government and Hazare's team would be put up before the Cabinet for consideration.
Bringing the Prime Minister under the Lok Pal was never the "central" issue of the committee's discussions”, Sibal said. He said the issue was ensuring accountability of the proposed ombudsman, that it would “function in a chaste manner, uncorrupted, only because it is under the Lokpal. These are the essential issues that were of concern to us, on which, of course, there was huge divergence of opinion".
While termed the experience of working with civil activists in law-making as "enriching", Sibal rejected Hazare's contention that he was not seeking to create a parallel structure to the government.
On the issue regarding Ramdev, the minister said the government was able to "expose" what the yoga teacher stood for. "We exposed him in the sense that actually he was negotiating with us and giving promises to us and was doing just the opposite at Ramlila Ground, contrary to the permission granted," he said. And, dismissed suggestions that the government was embarrassed over four Union ministers visiting Ramdev at the airport and that there was a sense of uneasiness in the party on the issue. "Ultimately the government was able to expose what Ramdev really stood for. Had we not met him, we would never have been able to expose him," he said.
