New Delhi, Nov 5: Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has said that a committee of judges will be set up to "examine" charges being levelled against members of Anna's core committee.
Replying to questions from Rajat Sharma in India TV's show Aap Ki Adalat, Kejriwal said Prashant Bhushan was in talks with some of the judges to set up the committee.
"Annaji had himself wanted that a committee of judges be set up to look into such charges. We knew from the beginning that charges would be levelled against some of us. Prashant Bhushan is presently looking into it so that the committee can be set up", said Kejriwal.
On Kiran Bedi's air travel transactions, Kejriwal initially defended her saying she was not a "personal beneficiary", though it was a "technical irregularity" and she could have taken the money through donations for her NGO which works for children of Tihar jail prisoners.
But when Rajat Sharma asked him whether he himself thought Bedi should have done that, he replied : "No, I don't think she should have done that. Even her trustees have told her and she is not going to do such things in future."
Kejriwal said Kiran Bedi's case cannot be compared with former Telecom minister A. Raja, the main accused in 2G scam.
"In Raja's case, it was straightaway corruption. He was the personal beneficiary, and it was the people's money that was being plundered, whereas in Kiran Bedi's case, she was not a personal beneficiary and it was a mutual understanding between her and the organisations who invited her."
Kejriwal denied that Team Anna was breaking up. "People may come and go, but Anna's movement belongs to 120 crore Indians and shall continue to be stronger", he said.
On charges relating to donations from anonymous sources sent directly to his NGO PCRF (Public Causes Research Foundation), Kejriwal said, these are being called 'anonymous' because the donations were received through electronic transactions.
"In these cases, only the donors' names were there, there were no addresses, nor PAN numbers which is mandatory under the Income Tax Act.
"We got nearly Rs 42 lakhs from such transactions from anonymous sources. Legally, we could have kept 5 per cent of such donations, or by paying Rs 13 lakhs as tax, we could have kept the remaining amount with us, but we ultimately decided to return the donations from such sources."
On his writing a letter to the Prime Minister while paying his dues of Rs 9.27 lakhs to Income Tax department, Kejriwal said, "let me ask you a question. If somebody resigns, is it the job of Prime Minister's office to process that file? My file was forwarded by the Finance Ministry to the PMO where it was processed.
"I decided to write to the Prime Minsiter, because I wanted to raise several issues, which my Chief Commissioner could not have solved at his level.
"I wrote to the Prime Minister that like Team Anna members, my friends from whom I took loan to pay the dues should not be targeted. The Chief Commissioner could not have handled this issue.
"Another issue I raised was that all our telephones were being tapped. My chief commissioner can't deal with this.
"The most important issue I pointed out to the Prime Minister was that the leave period for which I was penalized, was utilized by me to fight corruption for which I got the Magsaysay Award, and yet I was asked to repay salaries for this leave period. On the contrary, when I returned from leave, I waited for one whole year to get a posting and the department gave me salaries for sitting idle.
"It means the government is saying, you sit idle, don't do any work, you will get your salary, but you can't work for the country during your leave period. These are bigger issues, which my Chief Commissioner cannot solve. That's why I wrote the letter to the PM."
Kejriwal ruled out Rahul Gandhi's suggestion for making the Lok Pal a Constitutional authority. "Making the Lok Pal a constitutional authority has no connection with his powers. Today though the CAG is a constitutional authority, its powers are nothing compared to an official like the Chief Information Commissioner, who looks after RTIs."
Kejriwal had a special word of praise for Uttarakhand chief minister B C Khanduri.
"We spent half an hour with the CM, one hour with the concerned officials, and another half an hour with the principal secretary, and the Lokayukta bill was okayed. The chief minister called a special session of Assembly and got it passed.
"If the government at the Centre has the political will, it can also get the Jan Lokpal bill passed within 24 hours in parliament, but the political will is lacking.
"We have waited for the Lok Pal for the last 42 years. Eight standing committees of Parliament went through the drafts of the bill. That's why we seriously doubt the intentions of the government".
Kejriwal said, after the passage of a strong Lokpal bill, Team Anna would concentrate on judicial and electoral reforms. "Bahut saare andolan karne ki zaroorat hai ( we need so many agitations )", he added.
Arvind Kejriwal in Rajat Sharma's Aap Ki Adalat will be telecast on India TV on Saturday (Nov 5) at 10 pm, and on Sunday (Nov 6) at 10 am and 10 pm.
