New Delhi, June 15
Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill proposed by his Civil Society as the ombudsman to probe corruption against the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India down to the lowest clerk, is dead before it is born.

Civil Society members on the way to Lokpal Bill drafting committee meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

The meeting of the 10-member Joint Drafting Committee of the Lokpal Bill, chaired by Pranab Mukherjee, co chaired by Shanti Bhushan and consisting of P Chdambram, Kapil Sibal, Veerappa Moily and Salman Khursheed from the government side and Anna Hazare, Shanti and Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal and Santhosh Hegde, ended with both sides admitting outside the North Block to their “inability to develop any consensus on issues of divergence,” said Sibal.

They have, therefore, decided to prepare their separate drafts “on the points of divergence”. Sibal said after June 30, the deadline for the final round of meeting, both these drafts would be sent to the Cabinet along with a note.

The Jan Lokpal Bill Civil society proposes to bring the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice under the Lokpal purview. Besides, it also wants the actions of MPs not just outside but within Parliament to be monitored and guided by the Lokpal. But more importantly it seeks to dissolve the CBI and the CVC or subsume these bodies under the Lokpal and have the powers to investigate the activities of not just the top officials, which the government seemed willing to concede, but the lowest officials as well. The government considers these demands too preposterous.

Kejriwal said, “they wanted the 11-member Lokpal to investigate only the top officials and are unwilling to let the Lokpal probe the lower level officials. There was no exchange of ideas.”

Kejriwal added that they betrayed the arrogance of someone who felt that “because you have elected us we have the sole right to decide”. Sibal said, “Today’s discussion was restricted mainly to point of divergence. While we will try to develop a consensus, failing that we will prepare our respective drafts on the points of divergence. We will send these to the Cabinet,” he said, adding, “We will discuss these with political parties as well”.

But Hazare and Kejriwal after boycotting the June 6 meeting and getting the June 10 meeting postponed for today said they would attend all the meetings, “Lest we are blamed for not cooperating in preparing the draft.”

The government also refused to heed Hazare’s demand to telecast live the proceedings of the drafting committee.

“Live telecast is necessary as per our demands,” said lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, who is among the five civil society members on the panel.