Lokpal bill passed in Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 by voice vote even as the Left, BSP and SP staged a walkout.

SP and BSP staged a walk out from the Lok Sabha shortly before the voting on the lokpal bill in protest against the government bringing a "weak" legislation. "We had demanded a strong lokpal. It is not strong. It is sarkari lokpal. There is no meaning to it. It was brought in a hurry and under Anna Hazare's pressure," SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters.

Asked why did he not protest against the bill in the House by voting against it, Yadav said, "We don't want to support BJP."

BSP leader Dara Singh Chauhan said the party MPs walked out of the House in protest against the government's refusal to accept their demand of bringing the CBI under lokpal.

Earlier, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday forcefully countered in Lok Sabha the opposition's charge that the lokpal bill had been tabled in a hurry and stressed that there was a dialogue with political parties as well as the civil society after a debate on the anti-corruption legislation in Lok Sabha.

Mukherjee on Tuesday that the legislation has been debated for over six months.

"There is a long history of the last six months. We entered into a dialogue with civil society," Mukherjee said replying to the day-long debate in the house on the lokpal bill, while recalling several times that the legislation has been discussed by parliament.

"It is not under duress but we wanted to have a strong anti-corruption legislation in the form of a Lokpal, an ombudsman which will examine corruption in high places."

"All the proposals, including reservations for the Scheduled Castes, STs (scheduled tribes) and women, were discussed. Nothing has come out of the hat of a magician," said Mukherjee.

Mukherjee was speaking in Parliament after MPs debated in the Lok Sabha the pros and cons of the lokpal bill as Anna Hazare started a three-day fast for a strong anti-graft ombudsman.

Earlier, while intervening, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underlined that that the bill lived up to the promise MPs "collectively made to the people of the country" with a 'sense of house' resolution in August when Hazare staged his 12-day fast in Delhi.

The lokpal bill was rejected as weak and inadequate by several parties which wanted it to be withdrawn even Singh pushed for it while rejecting demands for bringing CBI under the ambit of the anti-graft ombudsman.

BJP's leader Yashwant Sinha called the Congress-led UPA government "morally bankrupt" which has brought a "brokepal" bill instead of lokpal bill.

"This morally bankrupt government has brought no lokpal but brokepal. If the government wants to fight corruption strongly, they need to send the bill to the standing committee again," Sinha said while participating in a debate on the anti-graft bill in Lok Sabha.

Sinha said that the rampant corruption in the country in the past years had prompted Anna Hazare to go on fast.

"Under the so-called honest prime minister, the country's most corrupt government is functioning," he said.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said it should be sent back to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for further discussion to make it "effective and strong".

"Accept our amendments or withdraw the bill... Send it back to standing committee for further discussion," she said while describing it as a "patently unconstitutional" legislation which the Opposition will not "tolerate".

Tearing into the bill in its present form, Swaraj said it would "sow the seeds of second partition" as it has the provision for religion-based reservation which was "patently unconstitutional".

The Leader of the Opposition also raised objections to several issues including creation of Lokayukta through the lokpal bill and the process of appointment and removal of the ombudsman and demanded inclusion of CBI under its ambit, saying she had moved amendments on these counts.

She dismissed as "farce" the way the bill has included the Prime Minister in its purview.

"You have brought the Prime Minister with a lot of protection so that no one will be able to touch him," she said, questioning the provision for in-camera proceedings and disallowing making public these proceedings even through RTI.

Not to be left behind, UPA partners, Trinamool Congress and DMK, also supporting parties like RJD and SP, maintained that the provisions to create Lokayuktas through a central legislation would impinge on the powers of the states and wanted that it should not be rushed under pressure of the Anna Hazare movement.

Members of these parties, as well as those from RJD, BJD and TDP said the legislation was not adequate and sought in-depth discussion.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad also demanded its withdrawal contending that the bill was brought in "haste under pressure".

Pushing for passage of the bill, the Prime Minister said a "holistic" approach was needed to deal with the "cancer" of corruption but rejected demands for bringing CBI under the purview of lokpal, warning that no entity should be created inconsistent with the country's Constitutional framework.

In his intervention, the Prime Minister also dismissed opposition to the provision on setting up of Lokayuktas in states, saying federalism cannot be an impediment in the war against corruption as essential services in the states are the "bane" of corrupt practices.

Rejecting opposition demands for bringing CBI under the purview of lokpal, Singh said, "I believe that the CBI should function independently of the lokpal. We believe that the CBI should function without interference through any Government diktat."

Speaking amidst animated debate that coincided with Hazare's hunger strike in Mumbai, the Prime Minister, who was present in the House throughout the debate, underlined that the task of legislation was "very serious business and must eventually be performed by all of us who have been constitutionally assigned this duty."

Demanding that lokpal should be accountable to both Parliament and Supreme Court, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia said corruption by corporates and business houses should be brought under the lokpal ambit.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who led the Congress counter-charge, hit out at the BJP saying it had "political motives" to delay the bill so that it benefits them in the upcoming polls through Anna Hazare's campaign.

"If you oppose this bill, you will be violating the sense of the House and people will never forgive you," he told the Opposition.

Earlier, Singh said in Lok Sabha that the nation is waiting with bated breath to know how they treat the lokpal bill. Urging the MPs to pass the bill introduced by the government the PM said that this bill in his opinion lives upto the expectations.

Singh reiterated the supremacy of the Parliament and said that it should take the final decision on the bill. Singh said that others can persuade and have their voices heard but the final decision while making policy must rest with us.

Singh also said that the CBI should be independent of the government and the lokpal but should be accountable at the same time and the government's bill has tried to do so. The bill is a judicious bill, it supports Independence of CBI. CBI under lokpal will create executive structure outside Parliament and this is not constitutional, he said.

Singh expressed the hope that the House will support the government's bill. Finally he said that the lawmakers should not create something which will destroy all that they cherish.

Erlier today, the bill was taken up for consideration by the Lok Sabha on a stormy note with the Opposition demanding its withdrawal contending it was full of deficiencies, even as the government asserted that it had sought to strike a fine balance.

Moving the bill for consideration, minister for personnel V Narayanasamy asserted the supremacy of Parliament saying "we need to bow our heads to this House only and not before anyone else", apparently referring to Anna Hazare.

Narayanasamy contended that the Lokpal and Lokayukta bill had several unique features like confiscation of properties of any person believed to have committed an offence relating to corruption. (Hindustan Times)