Proposed Government Anti-Corruption Bill an Eye-wash says India Against Corruption

If you want to know how and why the proposed Government version of the Lokpal Bill will let corrupt elements in our government continue being corrupt, read this article carefully.

India Against Corruption (IAC) has drawn up a chart which explains what exactly the government wants in the bill against corruption, what IAC's view (the IAC view is open to discussion and suggestions by anyone here - http://www.lokpalbillconsultation.org/) is and the many ways in which the government wants to retain a hold on who ultimately investigates corruption against themselves. 

For example, the government want the CBI to investigate corruption charges against themselves and guess who they say should be in charge of the CBI? You guessed it. Themselves!

Here's a sample of what IAC's chart contains:

The Issue: Who will Lokpal be accountable to?

IAC View: To the people. A citizen can make a complaint to Supreme Court and seek removal.

Government View: To the Government. Only government can seek removal of Lokpal

Comment from IAC: With selection (previous point) and removal of Lokpal in government’s control, it would virtually be a puppet in government’s hands, against whose seniormost functionaries it is supposed to investigate, thus causing serious conflict of interest.

To my mind, this is the worst point - punishing the ordinary citizens who dare to lay charges against anyone in the government. In IAC's own words: Rather than gunning for the corrupt and corruption, government’s Lokpal seems to be gunning for those who complain against corruption.

IAC thinks a fine for frivolous complaints would suffice. The government wants fines and imprisonment. Especially notice IAC's comment in the last column.

Issue: False, Frivolous and vexatious complaints

IAC's view: No imprisonment. Only fines on complainants. Lokpal would decide whether a complaint is frivolous or vexatious or false.

Govt: Two to five years of imprisonment and fine. The accused can file complaint against complainant in a court. Interestingly, prosecutor and all expenses of this case will be provided by the government to the accused. The complainant will also have to pay a compensation to the accused.

Comment: This will give a handle to every accused to browbeat complainants. Often corrupt people are rich. They will file cases against complainants and no one will dare file any complaint. Interestingly, minimum punishment for corruption is six months but for filing false complaint is two years.

And there are many more points. This is the link:

http://news.indiaagainstcorruption.org/?p=3022&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=govt-lokpal-bill-vs-jan-lokpal-bill

And after reading those, if you, as an ordinary citizen, as a lawyer or anyone from India or abroad have anything to say (about any point) I think IAC will really value your input. Don't forget the link http://www.lokpalbillconsultation.org/



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