Anna Hazare has announced that he intends to fast unto death until the Jan Lokpal bill is adopted. He has disallowe d all politicia ns from approachi ng him. According to him and his supporter s, this is a “non violent non political” movement. Prominent supporter s of this ‘non political’ movement are Kiran Bedi (Magasaysa y – we will come to that shortly), Arvind Kejriwal (also Magasaysa y), Medha Patkar, Aamir Khan, Madhur Bhandarka r, Shekar Kapur, among others. Sure enough tonight various media outlets NDTV, CNN-IBN and others hopped on to this bandwagon . Civil Society it appears is feeling good about this bill.
It pains me to see thousands of young and impressio nable Indians being sold snake oil.
It is important to separate the two issues here :
The Draft Jan Lokpal Bill itself.
The voluntary assembly of Indians unaffilia ted to any political outfit all outraged by high corruptio n.
The second point first. Such voluntary and spontaneo us assembly of Indians is something to be proud of. This is a great event for sure. I have highest respect for Anna Hazare which makes this post a bit difficult to write.
The real purpose of this blog post.
Top 5 reasons why I think the Draft Jan Lokpal Bill is the most hare brained piece of document ever produced.
A Microsoft Word document of the draft bill can be found here. You can also search “Jan Lokpal Bill” on Google and use the Google Document Viewer.
5. Compariso n with Hong Kong ombudsman bill is incorrect
Many supporter s of the Draft Jan Lok Pal Bill are quick to drop Hong Kong as a reference . This is invalid because the Hong Kong Ombudsman has 1) no powers of prosecuti on 2) only produces a report and submits to the Chief Executive (like our PM) 3) is appointed by politicia ns. The first thing I did after being confronte d with the Hong Kong Ombudsman parallel was to read the whole Hong Kong Ombudsman act. I suspected a bluff. I simply could not believe that other countries could allow civil society nominees to actually initiate prosecuti on against citizens. I was right.
4. Reckless in its promise and scope
An example is Section 10.2
(2) Lokpal, after getting such enquiries and investiga tions done as it deems fit, may take one or more of the following actions:
a. Close the case if prima facie, the complaint is not made out or
b. Initiate prosecuti on against public servants as well as those private entities which are party to the act
c. Order impositio n of appropria te penalties under CCS Conduct Rules Provided that if an officer is finally convicted under Preventio n of Corruptio n Act, major penalty of dismissal shall be imposed on such governmen t servant.
d. Order cancellat ion or modificat ion of a license or lease or permissio n or contract or agreement, which was the subject matter of investiga tion.
e. Blacklist the concerned firm or company or contracto r or any other entity involved in that act of corruptio n.
In other words, from dismissin g a case outright to cancellat ion to blacklist ing a firm – the Lokpal has unbridled powers. We can only appeal to the merciful benevolen ce of its members.
3. Police and court all rolled into one
It does not matter that Lokpal members are not trained to be policemen, but I invite you to read Sec 12.
We are police.
12. Lokpal to be a deemed police officer: (1) For the purposes of section 36 of Criminal Procedure Code,
the Chairpers on, members of Lokpal and the officers in investiga tion wing of Lokpal shall be deemed to be police officers.
(2) While investiga ting any offence under Preventio n of Corruptio n Act 1988, they shall be competent to
investiga te any offence under any other law in the same case.
We are also court.
See Section 10.2
(2) For the purpose of any such investiga tion (including the prelimina ry inquiry) the Lokpal shall
have all the powers of a civil court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 , in respect
of the following matters, namely:-
(a) Summoning and enforcing the attendanc e of any person and examining him on oath;
(b) Requiring the discovery and productio n of any document;
(c) Receiving evidence on affidavit s;
..
(3) Any proceedin g before the Lokpal shall be deemed to be a judicial proceedin g with in the
meaning of section 193 of the Indian Penal Code.
2. The all important selection policy
Jan Lokpal Bill is open ended and confers unlimited powers. So it goes without saying that selecting the Lok Pal Members is the single most important task. There are no checks and balances at all in the bill that would make it idiot member proof. In other words, if the mainstrea m instituti ons have been compromis ed, there is NOTHING in the bill that would prevent the Lokpal from being compromis ed too. It gets worse because of two reasons.
The mainstrea m instituti ons (CVC, CBI, CAG, etc) can be turned around by people power every 5 years. That it doesnt seem to happen is due to there not being enough free agent voters in the system. We can hope for a 20-25% increase in free agent voters which will straighte n these instituti ons in short time.
A compromis ed Lokpal will wreak havoc and lay to waste the other instituti ons. There is no chance of getting them voted out.
Let me try to make it clearer.
If Indian citizens wanted to get a compromis ed Lok Pal off their backs – this is what they have to do. Study hard, do great research, win a Nobel Prize or work hard on social issues and win a Magasaysa y Prize. Then and only then do you get to have a say in who the Lokpal members are. Experienc e has taught us that such a system is bound to fail. Very quickly such an immune and isolated group congeal around a particula r social or ideologic al position.
Adhoc selection criteria without rhyme or reason very prone to dilution hence ruining spirit of the bill
Here is who gets to select the Lokpal members.
5. A selection committee consistin g of the following shall be set up:
a. The Chairpers ons of both Houses of Parliamen t
b. Two senior most judges of Supreme Court
c. Two senior most Chief Justices of High Courts.
d. All Nobel Laureates of Indian Origin
e. Chairpers on of National Human Rights Commissio n
f.Last two Magsaysay Award winners of Indian origin
g. Comptroll er and Auditor General of India
h. Chief Election Commissio ner
i.Bharat Ratna Award winners
j. After the first set of selection process, the outgoing members and Chairpers on of
Lokpal.
The adhoc ness of this list will immediate ly lead to its dilution. Why on earth should Nobel Prize Winners of Indian origin , who are citizens of other countries get to decide the Lokpal members ? What is great about the “last two” Magasaysa y award winners (Kejriwal) ? Why not last ten ? Why not Padmasri Winners ?
These awards cannot possibly confer powers to put other people in jail.
1. Unelected people cant dont put people in jail
I simply do not want unelected people to have the power to put other Indian citizens in jail.
What I want
Lokpal should be stripped of its prosecuti on powers, Lokpal members cannot have a police rank, Lokpal cannot blacklist or seize private property, cannot conduct judicial hearings.
Lokpal should promote the democrati c way of addressin g corruptio n.
Highlight ing exemplary work done by people like Subramani an Swamy. Who would incidenta lly be ineligibl e for Lokpal, Chandan Mitra (also ineligibl e), various governmen t servants and professio nals (all ineligibl e because you have to quit everythin g).
Promoting the wisdom that politiciz ing corruptio n is the democrati c way. If you are corrupt we gonna vote your ass out. No bullshit about “larger issue of systemic ingrained structura l defects”.
Be a true ombudsman like your Hong Kong counterpa rt. Time for me to turn it around. By all means accept complaint s, investiga te, gather evidence, and produce a report to the public and to the state. We bloggers will pick it up.
People wake up !! This one is a lemon.
