Lokpal Bill Public Consultation

Janta Mat Says:
# A734LB April 24th, 2011 at 10:52 pm

The three shortcomings are

1. Citizens have no Right to Recall Lokpal(Chairperson or member) if Lokpal(consisting of chairperson and 10 members) is corrupt has
nexus with corrupt SC-Cj

2. Citizens have no Right to Retain Lokpal, Lokpal is honest but SC-Cj
is corrupt and dismisses honest Lokpal

3. Lokpal can ignore complaint even if complaint is coming from crores
of citizens who have no access to media

======

The first two shortcomings are that NO Right to Recall Lokpal
provision for citizens. Only Supreme Court Chief judge can select and remove (see sections 6,7 of proposed LokPal bill) Lokpal. How non-corrupt are Supreme Court Chief judges? Eminent Lawyer
Shanti Bhushan says that half of the past 16 SC-Cjs were corrupt !!!
In addition, nepotism and deliberate in-actions on large issues has
become common.
http://www.barandbench.com/brief/2/997/8-out-of-16-cji-from-1990-have-been-corrupt-says-shanti-bhushan-prashant-bhushan-to-file-his-affidavit-tomorrow


In this circumstances, it possible that

a. Corrupt SC-Cj would blackmail an honest Lokpal. Lokpal's
independence is compromised

b. Corrupt Lokpal and corrupt SC-Cj would form nexuses and assist each
other in many ways.

Also, an assumption that Lokpal will never become corrupt, or that
Lokpal-SCCj will not form a nexus is something I would like to dismiss
outrightly. Lokpal can become corrupt and may form nexus with SC-Cj in
which case Right to Recall Lokpal becomes MUST. And Lokpal and SC-Cj
may get both purchased by MNCs, in which case MNCs will end up having
complete control over Indian Administration, Ministries and Courts. So
we must have Right to Recall Lokpal. RTR Lokpal is also supported by
writings of Satyarth Prakash which page-1 of chap-6 says that "Raajaa
(Raajvarg) must be Prajaa-aadheen or else he will rob citizens the way
carnivorous animals kill small animals, and thus such a Raajaa will
ruin the nation". Same way, Lokpal must be Prajaa-aadheen. Or else, he
will rob the citizens and ruin the nation. In case Right to Recall
Lokpal Chairman is too much for others to accept, then IMO, we should
settle for Right to Recall any one member, called as Citizen's Member
in Lokpal.

The third shortcoming is that it may happen that Lokpal gives no
hearing to a big complaint that matters to crores of people who dont
have access to wealthy lawyers and media. Lokpal can simply delay
action on that complaint by calling it small and "too few people want
action on it". We must have a mechanism that would at least ensure
that Lokpal can dismiss complaints that matter to crores of commons
who have no access to media.

====

Proposed additions to JanLokpal Draft
------------------------------------------------

We propose adding following two sections in JanLokpal draft

Section - CV : Citizens Voice
------------------------------------------

Clause CV.1 : If a citizen comes to District Collector's office with
an affidavit containing complain, then after verification of identity,
Collector or Executive Magistrate he has appointed will put the
complaint on the website of Lokpal.

Clause CV.2 : Any citizen can register YES-NO on a complaint filed in
clause-1 by paying Rs 3 at Patwari (Talati) office after showing voter
card and Talati will add the YES-NO on the Lokpal's website along with
name and voter-number of the citizen.

This will ensure that if the JanLokpal is ignoring complaint of crores of
citizens, he will get exposed. And the fact that he can get exposed,
he will not dare to ignore complaints of crores.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Right to Recall Lokpal
--------------------------

Section - RTRLC : Right to Recall Lokpal Chairperson

clause-1 [General Declaration] . The word citizen would mean a
registered voter.

clause-2 [Procedure for Collector] If a citizen of India above 30
years wishes to be LokPal, he can appear before Collector. Collector would
issue a serial number for a filing fee same as deposit amount for MP
election.

clause-3 [Procedure for Talati , Patwari (or Talati’s Clerks)] If a
citizen comes in person to Talati’s office, pays Rs 3 fee , and
approves at most five persons for the Lokpal Chairperson position, the
Talati would enter his approvals in the computer and would him a
receipt with his voter-id#, date/time and the persons he approved. The
fee shall be Rs 1 for those with BPL card. If a the citizen comes to
cancel his Approvals, the Talati will cancel one of more of his
approvals without any fee.

clause-4 [Procedure for Talati , Patwari (or Talati’s Clerks)] The
Talati will put the preferences of the citizen on Lokpal's website
with citizen’s voter-ID number and his preferences.

clause-5 [Procedure for Secretary of Lokpal] On every Monday, the
Secretary will publish Approval counts for each candidate.

clause-6 [Procedure for Lokpal] If any candidate has obtained more
than 38 crore approvals and is 1 crore more than approvals obtained by
existing Lokpal, then Lokpal may resign and may request PM to appoint
the most approved candidate as Lokpal.

====================================

The Right to Recall Lokpal clauses can be also used to retain a
Lokpal, if Lokpal is honest and a dishonest SC-Cj removes him. In such
case, citizens can file approval for that honest ex-Lokpal and make
him Lokpal again.

And I will repeat, in case Right to Recall Lokpal Chairman is too much
for others to accept, then IMO, we should settle for Right to Recall
any one member, called as Citizen's Member in Lokpal

Vinod Kumar Ailawadi Says:
# A733LB April 24th, 2011 at 10:51 pm

My Question is …??

• On what grounds Prime Minister is being included in the Selection Committee.
• On what Grounds the Leader of Opposition is being thought to be in the selection Committee.
• Similarly Vice President also can be taken as political post.

Let the Parliament do its duty.

In my opinion under Clause 6 (2) & corresponding clause 6 (5) the primary condition of Lokpal bill also & must insist that :
1. Any Person who is/ was not a primary member of any political party for last 10 years from the date of his appointment as Lokpal/ members may be nominated for the post.

2. Any person who is a member of any political party at the time of his appointment or is a primary member of political party any time for last 10 years is not eligible to be included in the Selection/ termination committee of Lokpal & its members.

3. All members of NGO’s who have ever got any Grant from Govt. are also not eligible for the post of Lokpal / members and also not eligible to be in the Selection/ Termination Committee of Lokplal/ members.

Request inform your action on my suggessions.

Meenakshi Says:
# A732LB April 24th, 2011 at 10:51 pm

some doubts/questions/concerns:

1.If, possible, and if there are no concerns on this- there should be an option to give complaints anonymously.
This may prevent few problems.
Since people need not disclose their details/identity, it may help the weakest of the weak and poorest of the poor and the very normal citizens to register their complaints without any fear.
It will also give protection to whistle-blowers.

2. To whom is Lokpal accountable?
What is the guarentee that LokPal will not go against sincere people ?
What is the guarentee that all investigations/docs/reports by LokPal are correct and are not subject to personal interests?

3.Anyone can be forced to be corrupt. We should effectively prevent corruption in LokPal itself.

4.If I complaint against a public servant to the LokPal, the Lokpal will do its duty. Thats fine. But, the person against whom I have complained might be stronger than me, and hence can blackmail me using his/her muscle power and I will be forced to withdraw.
How can we tackle such situations?
What protection is given to those normal citizens who complaint against big personalities having huge muscle power?

John Varghese, Assistant Professor In Law Says:
# A730LB April 24th, 2011 at 10:43 pm

Dear Sirs,

Two preliminary comments:
1. Section 6: I do not understand the logic behind the definition of "Legal background" as it stands now. Holding a judicial office or practicing as an advocate in High Court or Supreme Court for any particular period of time, would not make any person wiser in law than an advocate who had been practicing for 20 years or more in a subordinate courts or a law teacher or any other person who had been working in a non litigation field with legal qualification. It has become almost a cliche in bill drafting to draw a presumption that enrolling as an advocate in High Court or Supreme Court (irrespective of their capabilities and knowledge in law) would only have sufficient legal background, as to enable the person to hold high offices, where as persons with other legal backgrounds, including distinguished law professors are not capable of holding such positions.
2. Section 6: Search Committee is conspicuous by the absence of Chief Justice of India. I think that is an anomaly, even considering the allegations against previous occupants, since Comptroller and Auditor General and Chief Election Commissioner are also not above such allegations, and it is only a matter of time that corruption in such high offices is also exposed.
I would come back with detailed comments in a week.

J P Verma Says:
# A727LB April 24th, 2011 at 10:36 pm

(1)most of IAS & IPS officers are involved in corruption.very rarely they are entrapped red handed.there should be a provision to punish them like an ordinary civilion.
(2)money earned with corruption are generally invested in real estate property in major cities.this fact should be investigated
(3)complaints / suggestions regarding corruption should be received without requiring identity of the complainer.

PRAMOD PATIL Says:
# A717LB April 24th, 2011 at 10:11 pm

Please find a file attached herewith containing my comments on the proposed Bill.Thanks and wish you all the best in your endeavour.

R.K.Goyal Advocate Says:
# A712LB April 24th, 2011 at 9:58 pm

1.ALL AUTHORITIES specially The Prime Minister, Central Cabinet Ministers, Whole Judiciary, Chief Ministers,State Ministers, The Central and State Public Service Commission Chairmans,its Members, Civil Servants, Police officers must be accountable and can be checked,investigated by The Lokpal.
2. If the complainant submits a complaint by not giving his identity(for his safety reasons from the corrupt persons), then also his complain should be entertained and enquired upon.
3. It should be the duty of the Lokpal to check the property and black money of the corrupt persons SUO MOTO.
(3rd point of Functions of Lokpal must not be amended and must be applied as such)
4. Point 17 regarding (Matters not subject to investigation) specially 17 (i) should be amended e.g. if the complaint is against an police officer, then there are many ways of complaining e.g. compalint to Local leaders, higher police officers etc. but till now this has not proved much useful.
5. Point 17 (iii) should also be amended (there are many instances of delay etc)
6. If point 17 is not possible to delete then there should be possibility for a complainant to complain to the Lokpal that the higher authority to which he had complaint is not taking action(due to any reason).

Kumar Says:
# A709LB April 24th, 2011 at 9:43 pm

The bill draft makes CBI as an independent body for investigating anti-corruption cases. However, we have observed that CBI and NIA are not independent while dealing with criminal cases also. A case in point is their investigation of Samjhauta Express blast, where first they announced that Safdar Nagouri confessed and later stated that Aseemanand has confessed. Now we find out that even Aseemanand did not confess. It seems that the investigating bodies are under some pressure, which makes them implicate different presonnel at different times for exactly the SAME crime. The matter is of grave concern to India's war against terrorism, since the actual perpetrators of terrorism are not getting caught. Hence, the proposed bill should not limit independence of CBI only for anti-corruption cases but must give CBI full indepenedence for all its roles - controlling corruption, terrorism, crime, etc.

R.K.NAIR Says:
# A708LB April 24th, 2011 at 9:41 pm

henceforth all public servent must file the status of his income and assets to the appropriate authority and the same should be updated annually.when ever there arises any corruption chafges against this public servant the lokpal should call for his income and asset sheet filed annually and compare the same with his actual holding at that period of time to ascertain whether any corruption has been done or not.

Manmohan Singh Says:
# A706LB April 24th, 2011 at 9:38 pm

I have read the 10 pages of lokpak bil so far and have following suggestions in my mind .


1.When we are so much emphasizing on the Youth and youth have played a very important role in IAC (still playing and would play )
5. Term of office and other conditions of service of Lokpal– (1) A person appointed as the Chairperson or member of Lokpal shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office or upto the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier

I think Keeping the upper cap of 70 year is too much .


2 We should seek the comments by telephone and letters as well , I know that a postal address is available on the website but we have to spread awareness as well about the same .

3. As all of us are aware about that ultimate goal of this bill is to end the corruption in India and let’s hope so don’t we think that keeping this condition “There shall be a separate fund by the name of “Lokpal fund” in which penalties/fines imposed by the Lokpal shall be deposited and in which 10% of the loss of Public Money recovered under section 19 of this Act shall also be deposited by the Government. Disposal of such fund shall be completely at the discretion of the Lokpal and such fund shall be used only for enhancement/upgradation/extension of the infrastructure of Lokpal.” At some point of time this fund can be used to some other social welfare work.

4 . The eligibility age of Lokpal member should be decreased to 35 years . At the age of 35 a person is enough mature to understand good and bad .

5. Request you to make a format of Jan lokpal in Hindi as well , In hindi version of website the same English one is available .
6. In the functions of Lokpal
8(b)
(b) Complaints where there are allegations of misconduct by a government servant,

The definition of government servent as per BILL

“Government Servant” means any person who is or was any time appointed to a civil service or post in connection with the affairs of the Central Government or High Courts or Supreme Court either on
deputation or permanent or temporary or on contractual employment but would not include the judges.
Don’t we think that judiciary is effected from corruption .