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The principle and procedure in Lokpal
Why in news?
- The Supreme Court’s ultimatum to the Centre to appointment a Lokpal within a given time frame, and the subsequent appointment of the first Lokpal in the country, is to be welcomed.
Lokpal movements
- Preference to Vigilance Commission: Despite affirmations to its need, no one really wanted a Lokpal in India, preferring instead the mild Vigilance Commission from 1964 to 2003.
- Ineffectiveness of other Commissions:(1) National Human Rights Commission and the various national commissions dealing with Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children and even safai karmacharis are all special Lokpals within their areas.(2) But nobody fears them because they are promotional and deal with individual grievances.(3) But nobody fears them because they are promotional and deal withNo one wanted a strong Lokpal because it would demand accountability from politicians and bureaucrats.
- After emergency:(1) After the Emergency, a new model of Lokpal emerged, a model for ‘regime revenge’.(2) The ‘maladministration’ model gave way to an anti-corruption model with a sweep clause of five years.(3) It meant that it would target politicians, but not bureaucrats.
- Anna Hazare Movement: The 2011 Anna Hazare movement, which fought to get the Lokpal Bill passed, faltered in many ways.
Challenges
- Neither transparent or fair:(1) When the matter was argued in the Supreme Court, advocate Prashant Bhushan asked for the names of those who had applied for the post.(2) This suggestion was shot down during the argument.(3) Did former Supreme Court judge, Justice Pinaki Ghose, apply even though he was a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at the time?
- Section 4(3)(1) Section 4(3) of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act of 2013 states that the Selection Committee “may also consider any person other than the persons recommended by the Search Committee”.(2) This makes the procedure futile.
- Background of members(1) Justice Pinaki Ghose is not known for any path-breaking judgments, so it is curious why he was chosen over other retired judges, especially as he was already a member of the NHRC.(2) No less than a sitting judge could have been offered this post.(3) The question is, should IAS and IPS officers be appointed, especially since they have to deal with fellow officers?
Source
The hindu