Failing to arrive at a consensus on contentious provisions in the proposed Lokpal Bill, the two sides in the joint drafting committee — five government ministers and five civil society members led by Anna Hazare — on Wednesday agreed to meet again on June 20 and 21 to bridge the “strong differences”. However, if they fail again in

the two proposed meetings, it was decided to send two separate versions of the bill to the Union Cabinet by June 30, the deadline fixed for the panel to come up with a robust draft anti-corruption law.
Accusing non-official members in the JDC of behaving like autocrats, Union law minister M. Veerappa Moily said in an interview to a TV channel that though the government wanted to bring in a strong Lokpal Bill, the civil society members were putting stumbling blocks. “The issue of inclusion of the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary are still under discussion, and views are being expressed. But civil society members are jumping the gun saying the government does not intend to bring in a strong bill,” he said.
The Anna Hazare-led civil society members suggested that the Lokpal be empowered to probe corruption cases against officials, doing away with the existing practice of conducting departmental probes along with a CBI inquiry. The government members, however, rejected this.
The other issue discussed at the meeting was the structure of the Lokpal institution. The Hazare team suggested a 11-member independent anti-corruption watchdog body, with subordinates having powers, while the government side differed, arguing that only the 11 members be empowered to take decisions.
Announcing that the committee will meet again on June 20 and 21 to thrash out differences, human resources development minister Kapil Sibal, a panel member, said: “It is clear there are areas where there is a strong divergence of opinion... Hopefully, the civil society members will give us a draft on issues of divergence. We ourselves will prepare a draft on the issues on which we think there is divergence of views and we will try and arrive at a consensus.”
Mr Sibal added: “If no consensus is arrived at, then we will forward a draft bill with both versions so that the Cabinet can take a view.” The process will be completed by June 30, he said.
Mr Sibal also said that structurally, there was no convergence of opinion on the shape of the Lokpal, which would be both at the Central and state levels. The civil society members claimed that nothing could be achieved from the meeting. Arvind Kejriwal, a JDC member, said: “The government is trying to kill the Lokpal even before it is born.”
Team Anna, which boycotted the last meeting on June 6 alleging that the government was not serious, insisted that the deliberations over a month and a half were a “pretence” on the government’s part. Mr Kejriwal, however, insisted they would not boycott the next meetings as civil society members were keen to ensure that the country gets a strong Lokpal Bill and their views also emerge in the public domain.
“We were raising arguments over issues but the government side was only giving decisions. Even on small issues, it was hard to convince them. It seems the government has made up its mind and is not ready to discuss,” the social activist said.
While Mr Sibal said there would be a single Cabinet note that will carry versions of both sides, Team Anna claimed two drafts of the bill would be put up before the Cabinet for consideration.
Expressing doubts over the government’s intentions, Mr Kejriwal said: “It is their Cabinet. What can you expect (from it)?”
Mr Sibal said the contentious issue of bringing the post of Prime Minister under the purview of the Lokpal was not discussed in the meeting. Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, also a member of the JDC, said civil society wanted to have a Lokpal with powers vested at the lower level. “But the government wants to concentrate its powers at the higher level, and wants the watchdog to investigate higher officials,” he said.