Supporting social activist Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption, former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A.Sangma has pointed out that the draft Jan Lok Pal Bill, seeking to bring the Prime Minister, MPs and Judges under the ambit of Lok Pal, was fraught with serious danger to the very existence of Parliamentary democracy under which Legislature and judiciary are most sacrosanct.
In a letter to Mr. Hazare, the former Speaker has said that MPs can be taken to task for any misdemeanour. So far as the Prime Minister is concerned, it would be most desirable that a provision be made in the Lok Pal Bill to take action against him for any misdeeds only after he demits the office. ``Prime Minister, in fact, is responsible for his Council of Ministers and, therefore, his office becomes highly sensitive. I do not think it would be in the interest of the nation to hand a Domiciles sword on his head. He has to be allowed freedom to function without any fear. In any case, he is responsible to Parliament which has the authority to impeach him on any issue of impropriety. Bringing him under the ambit of Lok Pal would encourage his critics and vested interests to make him dysfunctional by making unfounded allegations,’’ the letter said.
``Regarding judiciary, I see no reason to bring them under Lok Pal because there are very many provisions to deal with them. I may mention here that one Supreme Court Judge had to face impeachment before Parliament and yet another senior judge is currently faced with the same prospect,’’ Mr. Sangma said.
The National Alliance for People’s Movement (NAPM) has extended its support to social activist Anna Hazare’s movement for a corruption-free India and urges the citizens of the country to join this struggle from August 16.
"We strongly disapprove of the way in which government has been trying to put severe restrictions on holding peaceful protests in the capital, and Delhi Police under the garb of implementing the Supreme Court’s Guidelines is imposing unnecessary conditions on protests, ‘’ it said in a statement issued here on Sunday.
We are conscious that the campaign for an effective Lokpal against corruption is not a full and final solution to all that ails our country today. It should be viewed as part of an ongoing process that can be built upon by various groups using myriad democratic styles, strategies, issues and foci, the statement said.
It said that the Lokpal bill drafted by the government was toothless and defeats the very purpose it is meant for. "We believe that any law to deal with corruption must be comprehensive and provide for expeditious action and deal with corruption not only at the higher executive level but also at mid and lower levels and bring in politicians and corporations too in its ambit’’.
NAPM calls upon the Government to pay heed to the diversity of voices and respect the evolving public opinion to introduce a series of fool-proof, effective anti-corruption measures and pass a strong Lokpal Bill, dealing with corruption at all levels, after holding participatory and wide-spread consultations. The statement was signed among others by Medha Patkar, Sandeep Pandey, Prafulla Samantara, Maj Gen Sudhir Vombatkere, Suniti S R, Sister Celia, P Chennaiah, Ramakrishna Raju, Suhas Kolhekar, Akhil Gogoi, Anand Mazgaonkar, Rajendra Ravi, and Madhuresh Kumar.
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