Undermining its purpose
If the provisions of the lokpal legislation are constantly watered down, we might as well not have had the Act at all
It is ironic that the BJP-led NDA government is now making attempts to dilute the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which was resurrected by the Anna Hazare movement, supported by both the BJP and the RSS. The government, on its part, denies the charge of dilution. In fact, this is a second amendment introduced after the Bill was passed and received presidential assent in 2014. This time, the amendment moved by the government has exempted public servants, under the rubric of which fall government employees, legislators and NGOs, from declaring their assets by July 31. Worse, it exempts their spouses and children from declaring their assets altogether. Though the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress objected to the amendment, their reservations were only to no time being given for discussion. It is to be seen whether any party seriously takes it up for debate later because the amendments benefit precisely those whose subterranean privileges the Anna Hazare movement sought to curtail.
What is more intriguing is that the Bill leaves a lot of holes. It does not specify by when public servants should declare their assets. It leaves the matter vague by saying that it may be done in the manner “as may be prescribed”. And since the Bill is going to the parliamentary committee, whose recommendations will be taken up in the next session of Parliament, the declaration of assets can wait indefinitely. All this goes against the spirit of the Act, which mandates a public servant to declare her assets within a month of taking office. And it should not be forgotten that this amendment is a considerably diluted version of the original Jan Lokpal Bill, which wanted the lokpal to be a constitutional authority.
Despite the process of appointing the lokpal being laid out in the Act, no ombudsman has been appointed to date. Given the manner in which the Act is being amended, no appointment is likely to take place in the foreseeable future. If the provisions of the Act are being watered down like this, we might as well not have had the Act at all. Our legislators can, it seems, put aside differences when it comes to issues which concern them.