Proposed Lokpal Bill shields corrupt: Bhushan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Supreme Court lawyer and member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, Prashant Bhushan, on Sunday said that the whole object of the government’s version of the Bill was to protect the corrupt and intimidate complainants.Delivering the 10th N Narendran Memorial Lecture on ‘The Role of Civil Society in the Fight Against Corruption,’ Prashant Bhushan said he preferred to call the government’s Bill "Promotion of Corruption Bill 2011" or the "Protection of Corrupt Public Servants Bill 2011".“None of the major scams that have erupted in the recent past can be investigated using the Government’s Lokpal Bill,’’ he said, adding that the “Sarkari Bill’’ was an instrument for harassing NGOs and complainants.Calling the Government’s version toothless, he said that the alternative, the Jan Lokpal Bill, had adequate safeguards to prevent it from becoming a Frankenstein monster.For instance, the 11 members of the Jan Lokpal are accountable to the Supreme Court and, among other things, it provides for the establishment of complaint authorities to keep tabs on the Lokpal officials, he said. “The anti-corruption movement has also allowed us to raise the issue of democracy. That’s why we ask for a referendum on the Lokpal Bill. Do you want to continue with a representative democracy where the representatives feel free to take bribes from multi-national corporates, or should we move to a participatory democracy where people can directly vote and decide what laws and policies they need?’’ he said.He emphasised the need to free CBI from the control of the very people who it is supposed to be investigating. “It has to be placed under the control of an independent body. That is what the Lokpal Bill is supposed to be,’’ Prashant Bhushan said. The burning of the Lokpal Bill was only a symbolic form of protest against a ‘negative Bill,’ he said.On corruption in society, he dwelt on how the mad rush by bureaucrats for plush post-retirement jobs or deputations with agencies such as World Bank or the IMF go against public interest. Calling deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a perfect example of this trend, he said such bureaucrats are sub-consciously forced to toe the policies of the IMF or the World Bank which serve the interests of multi-national corporations. The function was organised by Friends of Narendran.