New Delhi, July 4
With a majority of political parties giving a short shrift to Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill draft, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley too followed the same course and spelt out his party line demanding PM be brought under the purview of Lokpal at the all-party meeting yesterday.

BJP which was undecided and uncertain about what course to adopt remained so even when it arrived for the Sunday’s meeting at 7, Race Course Road. Even during the meeting, it seemed to be busy assessing the mood of other political parties.

Thus, while Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj criticised the Government only on procedure, Jaitley demanded inclusion of the PM.

After everyone had spoken and most remaining non-committal, Jaitley castigated the Government for what he described as a ‘Jokepal Bill.’

Jaitley said, "The PM's decisions and actions relating to national security, public order and foreign affairs can be excluded from scrutiny. But can a corruption charge against him be overlooked?" he asked reminding, "Take, for example, the JMM MPs bribery case or the incidents relating to nuclear liability issue. Can the PM, against whom direct charges of corruption were made, be left out from the purview of it? This will hit at the root of the process to create the apex anti-corruption body," he said.

Questioning the independence of selection process by a 10-member panel headed by the PM under the draft bill, he said there were six members from the government side which would invariably allow a government nominee to be pushed through.

"What is the role of president of National Academy of Science in the selection of Lokpal, whose task is to examine evidence to find whether a case of corruption is made out or not?" he asked.

One of the eligibility criteria for Lokpal and the members was that they must resign from active membership of a political party.

The BJP leader also did not agree with the sole prerogative being given to the government to suspend a Lokpal or a member during the pendency of a reference to Supreme Court for their removal in case of misconduct.