Patna, Jul 6: Advocating enactment of a strong and effective Lokpal bill, the CPI today demanded inclusion of the Prime Minister in the ambit of the proposed national watchdog on corruption.
“The government should enact a strong and effective Lokpal bill latest by the Winter Session of the Parliament and the Prime Minister must be under the jurisdiction of the national watchdog on corruption,” CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters here.
He, however, did not elaborate on the reasons for the Prime Minister being put under the jurisdiction of the proposed Lokpal bill.
Bardhan, however, felt that the judiciary should be kept out of the purview of the Lokpal bill. He said a National Judicial Commission should be set up for the appointment of the judges and a National Judicial Authority be put in place to check the conduct of the judges.
The CPI General Secretary advised the UPA government to table the Lokpal bill during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament beginning from August 1 and complete various processes like public debate and disposal of objections by the Standing and Select committees of the two Houses in due course of time before passage of the proposed bill by the Winter Session.
Barring a steadfast stand that the Prime Minister should be under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal bill, Bardhan said that his party had nothing more to say about the composition of the bill at the moment and added that the party would spell out its views in Parliament once the bill was tabled there.
The CPI respects the supremacy of Parliament as the country's law making institution and hence it will spell out its detailed views on the composition of the Lokpal bill during discussion in the august house of the people, he said. The CPI leader rapped the UPA government for recently convening an all-party meeting to seek their opinion on the Lokpal bill without preparing an official bill.
“Where is the bill (Lokpal) on which the political parties were asked to give their opinion?” he asked and questioned the need for seeking a discussion on the issue amid circulation of two drafts prepared one each by the five ministers of the UPA government and the civil society respectively. PTI
