Base draft must be ours, says Jan Lokpal camp

NEW DELHI: A day before the first meeting of the joint committee on the Lokpal bill, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer Prasant Bhusan said civil society activists would go into the meeting with three major things on their minds — accepting the Jan Lokpal bill as the base draft for the new legislation, videography of the proceedings and also to devise a way of effective public consultation. 

With allegations of Lokpal being a "supercop" being bandied around, the activists also released a detailed statement explaining the functioning of Lokpal. 

Law minister Veerappa Moily, meanwhile, said the government was going into the meeting with an open mind. He also refused to go into any of the allegations against civil society members, even as Kejriwal maintained that the allegations were the government's way of shifting focus from the real issue of corruption in public office. 

Kejriwal also called upon the government to come up with a clause-by-clause objection to their draft so that they 

could know "which are the points of difference and which the points of convergence. "That would then lead to a constructive dialogue. We are insisting on videography – we do not have a problem if it is telecast but that may not be possible – to ensure transparency in the proceedings of the committee," he said. 

On public consultations, he said the website they were preparing would be up by Monday where people could send their comments. "We will be very happy if the government invites feedback on its own site otherwise people can do so on this site," he added. 

On the issue of supercop, Kejriwal explained that Lokpal was just an effort to mend the problems faced by the CBI or the CVC. "We are proposing that that part of CBI which deals with anti-corruption cases should be taken away from it and merged into the proposed Lokpal. This will form the investigation wing of the Lokpal. It will directly report to the Lokpal. This will ensure independence of investigations and prosecutions," the statement said. "A wrong impression is sought to be created that Lokpal will announce judgments. Lokpal will not announce judgments," it added. 

It also clarified how Lokpal would have jurisdiction over politicians, bureaucrats and judges but would not have powers to award punishment. Lokpal, the statement added, would not make the Judicial Accountability Bill redundant as it would only deal with criminal misconduct and not professional misconduct of judges. It also said that apprehensions that Lokpal would be flooded with complaints was unfounded as complaints would not directly reach the Lokpal members.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Base-draft-must-be-ours-says-Jan-Lokpal-camp/articleshow/7995656.cms

2G scam: DMK remains silent over Raja's arrest

The DMK has gone into silent mode. The arrest of disgraced telecom minister A. Raja has been a bitter pill for the party to swallow. That it comes barely a day after DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi's return from the Capital, ensuring the alliance with the Congress, has surprised the party rank and file. A gloom has descended on the DMK. None from the party has reacted to the development.

Even Karunanidhi, who had been parotting that action would be taken against Raja if he was found guilty, has chosen to maintain a studied silence.

Though some senior DMK leaders maintain that it is better to face the music now rather during the polls in May, the party had hoped that the arrest would be postponed till the election was over.

What worries the DMK most is how to face the opposition onslaught during the poll campaign, in which the 2G spectrum scam would be a main plank.

The arrest has provided fresh ammunition to the opposition, and especially to AIADMK czarina Jayalalithaa. In private, party functionaries confide that the taint of corruption would certainly affect the party's prospects.

Karunanidhi's visit to the Capital was reportedly to persuade the Congress high command to delay the action against Raja.

But, his hopes were dashed as sources said home minister P. Chidambaram had briefed him about the impending arrest at Tamil Nadu Bhavan on Monday night.

What's more, while his photoop with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was widely publicised, the one with Congress president Sonia Gandhi was conspicuously not. The octogenarian was kept waiting for more than six hours for an audience with Sonia.

The DMK chief and Congress troubleshooters discussed the legal and political fallout of Raja's arrest on the upcoming polls.

Both Congress and DMK leaders maintained that the arrest would not impact their proposed electoral tie-up.

AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said the development would not have any bearing on the relations between the Congress and the DMK.

"It is absolutely no reflection on the alliance. It is continuation of a legal process," AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, adding that no one should mix up legal process and politics.

Already the spectrum scam has created fissures within Karunanidhi's family as everyone is against his daughter, Kanimozhi's, faction. But for her father, she has no one to bank on. Jayalalithaa could not have hoped for much more to take on the DMK as well as the Congress.

Her gameplan is to reinforce the notion that the DMK is corrupt to the core and with the Karunanidhi family holding sway over the party, it serves to build up public opinion. After all, the first time Karunanidhi was dismissed from power was on corruption charges. The patriarch appears rattled by this and also by her charisma to pull huge crowds. If anything, his recent utterances point to his apprehensions of losing power - so much so that he had asked his partymen to remain united or face being thrown out of power.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/128516/top-stories/2g-scam-dmk-remains-silent-over-arrest-of-raja.html

Corrupt public servants may face summary dismissal

NEW DELHI: The Centre is mulling summary dismissal of public servants chargesheeted for corruption.

The move will ensure that government will not have to wait for long-drawn court battle to sack officials found guilty of corruption. But it is to be seen if such a provision will extend to politicians who are classified as "public servants" in the anti-graft law.

A GoM on tackling corruption will take a call on the issue while hammering out an action plan to plug graft and fast-track punishment, as announced by Congress Sonia Gandhi. Also on the GoM agenda is Lok Pal bill, state funding of elections and relevance of government sanction for registering a Preliminary Enquiry against joint secretaries and above.

There are doubts that the provision for summary sacking via "constitutional amendment" to Article 311 can run afoul of statutory guarantees and invite legal challenge on grounds of miscarriage of justice. The government has proposed an independent advisory board to vet chargesheets and evidence to decide if a case is fit for summary axing. "The safety filter is to shield the amendment from being ultra vires," a source said.

The Centre is considering compulsory seizure of assets of corrupt officials by making provisions in the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

The GoM will decide if the much-lauded legislation of Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on confiscation of assets is better than the provisions under Public Money Laundering Act 2002. It is a tricky issue. UPA-1 decided against giving investigating agencies the autonomy to move court for seizure of assets. A GoM mulling changes to PCA felt agencies could misuse such power.

The government's sole authority on assets seizure is a hurdle in cracking down on ill-gotten assets. The agencies, after government nod, move court under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 1944 to seize assets, which is way milder than compulsory seizure in corruption cases.

GoM will take a hard look at Madhav Menon committee's report on CrPC reforms to fasttrack graft trials. The Centre has come out against inserting in PCA a time limit for corruption trials, arguing "it will not help without systemic changes".

The Centre has suggested a committee to vet cases pending over 10 years — found to be 2,400 — and suggest ways for their speedy disposal.

Anti-graft camp is keen on fast-tracking trials as delays help the accused get away. Around 113 CBI cases are awaiting Centre's sanction for prosecution. The pendency in disciplinary action and vigilance probe is on the higher side.

Source :- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Corrupt-public-servants-may-face-summary-dismissal/articleshow/7330493.cms