{"id":2476,"date":"2011-04-06T13:39:16","date_gmt":"2011-04-06T08:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/?p=2476"},"modified":"2011-04-06T13:39:16","modified_gmt":"2011-04-06T08:39:16","slug":"my-issues-with-the-proposed-jan-lok-pal-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2011\/04\/06\/my-issues-with-the-proposed-jan-lok-pal-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"My issues with the Proposed Jan Lok Pal Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government of India is lurching from crisis to crisis. And, all of these have one thing in common \u2013\u00a0 complicity of ministers\u2019, Alliance Partners\u2019, MP\u2019s in crime \u2013and the Government turning a blind eye to the pillage that has been going on. Worse, and more galling, \u00a0than the blind eye – is its sheer brazenness when confronted by the loot. Be it Kapil Sibal on 2G or Abhishek Manu Sanghvi on Anna Hazare’s fast – they have been brazen to the core. UPA2 needs to realise they have not been voted as rulers of India in perpetuity, rather as administrators – and that too for a period of 5 years.<\/p>\n

Obviously there has been furore. But, one has taken the furore with a bag of salt. When the media screams it is because it chooses to make money from outrage. When the opposition screams \u2013 it is because they have not been able to partake in the spoils. Cynical, but the nature of politics, political discourse and the public space has been so opportunistic and so devoid of values \u2013 that it is not difficult to go with the \u201cSab Chor Hai\u201d attitude.<\/p>\n

However, one person stands tall and apart from all this dirt, and has managed to put his finger on the pulse of the quiet anger that has swept the country. And, that is veteran Gandhian, Anna Hazare<\/a><\/strong>. He has been campaigning tirelessly against corruption across the country. And in particular, \u00a0in my home state of Maharashtra. Amongst the campaigns he has waged has been the one against Lavasa <\/a><\/strong>\u2013 where a combination of Private Sector greed and Ministerial avarice has robbed Tribals of their forest land.<\/p>\n

His current protest is against corruption in general, and \u00a0the Government\u2019s Lok Pal Bil<\/a><\/strong>l in particular. Anna Hazare believes – and rightly so – the Government’s proposed anti-corruption bill is an\u00a0exercise\u00a0in futility, a mode of letting the status quo stand.<\/p>\n

The Government\u2019s Lok Pal bill is pretty much like any Government action on corruption. It is the equivalent of setting up a committee and hoping that those who complain will die before things are resolved. Furthermore, it\u2019s Lok Pal bill has no teeth, can take no action against the corrupt. It can merely recommend. India against corruption<\/a><\/strong> has a\u00a0succinct\u00a0critique <\/a><\/strong>of the\u00a0Government’s\u00a0proposed bill. If you have the time, do read it.<\/p>\n

Anna Hazare is demanding a more powerful Lok Pal – one with teeth that can take action against the corrupt, including depriving them of ‘ill gotten’ assets. The bill that he proposes, called the Jan Lok Pal,<\/a><\/strong> is a comprehensive document that looks at how action against corrupt can be undertaken<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, with honest and truthful citizens, and a few corrupt officials this will be the best Act since Universal Franchise. However, we do not live in an Ideal World.<\/p>\n

Till yesterday morning I was all for the bill, and then I read the bill in detail. What i will set down here are my issues with the bill. This does not mean I don’t want the people to be involved in drafting of the bill, it also does not mean i support the Government on their version of the \u00a0bill – I don’t.<\/p>\n

At the first level – and in effect it stops there – it is the ability to go “j’accuse’ on people in Public life – it doesn’t matter if they are innocent or guilty. You believe that they have done something wrong, and you have the right to complain and ask for a review.<\/p>\n

I quote now from the proposed bill, those clauses i find problematic. The rest i am more or less ok with.<\/p>\n

1)<\/strong>\u201cAction<\/strong>\u201d means any action taken by a public servant in the discharge of his functions as such public servant and includes decision, recommendation or finding or in any other manner and includes willful failure or omission to act and all other expressions relating to such action shall be construed accordingly;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

7)<\/strong> \u201cgrievance<\/strong>\u201d means a claim by a person that he sustained injustice or undue hardship in consequence of mal-administration;<\/p>\n

9) \u201cMal-administration<\/strong>\u201d means action taken or purporting to have been taken in the exercise of administrative function in any case where,-<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. such action or the administrative procedure or practice governing such action is unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory; or<\/li>\n
  2. there has been willful negligence or undue delay in taking such action or the administrative procedure or practice governing such action involves undue delay;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    So, for example, \u00a0I am unhappy with my\u00a0property\u00a0tax evaluation – I believe that the civil servant in charge has done this so that he can come back and ask for a bribe – i have the right to go to the Lok Ayukta. They will investigate. The time frame for the investigation is a year. And then they will pronounce their verdict. If the property tax officer was actually doing his job – and has valued my home on the right basis, what happens…Similarly take any case, forest official refuses permission for a person\/company to expand their operations into the forest area. The official is following the law. But, vested interests decide the best way of expressing their ‘grievance” is to file a charge of ‘mal administration’ then what happens….<\/p>\n

    This part of the proposed bill can only work if there are exceedingly strong measures put in place to deter people from bringing in false accusations. Lets face facts – in India, especially in the last decade or so, it is easy to accuse, less easy to prove and almost impossible to clear your name. Cases are motivated as much by malice as they are by facts. Unless people who bring false charges end up getting penalised and facing jail terms – the bill in its current form is going to end up stalling all decision making. There needs to be a better way of achieving the same aim.<\/p>\n

    The Jan Lok Pal bill v.1.9 is well intentioned – but Utopian. \u00a0And like most things Utopian, \u00a0the proposed JanLokPal Bill, as it has been framed now, is dangerous – it is best summed up on twitter by\u00a0@dubash<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    We can either look for good men to occupy high office, or create a good law that bad men can use to eliminate each other.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    My second issue is more technical. The bulk of the provisions and definitions of the proposed Jan Lok Ayukta bill <\/a><\/strong> are based on the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988<\/a><\/strong>. That bill too has the provision of special courts and special trials and the like. \u00a0The Act, although it exists in the Statute books, has not had much success. Primarily because corruption has to be proved – and that means you have to catch someone in the Act of asking and taking money. Entrapment is one way of getting there – but that is in a legally grey area. So, the question remains – how do you prove corruption? One is knowing someone is corrupt or has practised nepotism (that too falls under the purview of the PCA) – the more difficult thing is to prove it.<\/p>\n

    I am all for a war on corruption. But setting up a separate machinery to prove & prosecute corruption, is just adding one more layer of bureaucracy for me. Far more effective may be taking up the following:<\/p>\n