As the contentious Lokpal issue goes to the all-party meeting convened by the government in a bid to resolve the logjam on the question of bringing the Prime Minister and MPs under the purview of the Lokpal, the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee, headed by Pranab Mukherjee in 2001, could still prove to be a guiding factor to find an amicable solution.
The rationality to bring the Prime Minister, ministers of his council and MPs under the purview of the Lokpal, was cited by the Mukherjee’s panel on the basis of the Supreme Court’s judgement in the JMM MPs bribery case against former premier P.V. Narasimha Rao, in which the top court for the first time defined MPs and MLAs as public servants and subjected them to the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The report submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman in December 2001, had said “the Lokpal Bill, 2001 proposes to put in place a special statutory institution called Lokpal to inquire into allegations made in complaints against certain category of public serpents (i.e. Prime Minister, present and past ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers of the Union and present and past members of Parliament) defined as public functionaries” by the Supreme Court.
The report said that the Lokpal more specifically “is an officer who investigates complaints of citizens of unfair treatment meted out to them by the government departments and suggests remedy thereof, if he finds that a complaint is justified.”
Besides, the JMM case verdict of the Supreme Court, the Mukherjee-led panel had taken into consideration the “views and recommendations” of the Privilege Committee of the Lok Sabha regarding the procedure to be followed by the Lokpal for investigating the cases of corruption against the MPs. While suggesting to extend the jurisdiction of Lokpal to the PM, the Mukherjee Committee had also cited such a provision made in four of the eight Lokpal Bills drafted till 2001. Besides, 2001 Bill, the other failed legislation which favoured to bring the PM under the Lokpal, included those of 1989, 1996 and 1998. Similarly, the bills of 1977, 1996, 1998 had sought to bring the MPs under its purview.
The report had stated that the Group of Ministers though had recommended the exclusion of the MPs from Lokpal’s purview, but the Cabinet under the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpyee “decided to retain them along with the PM within the ambit of the Lokpal.”
“However, the (Vajpayee) Cabinet in conformity with the recommendations of the GoM had agreed to delete Clause 18 of the Lokpal Bill, 1998 which has the provision about declaration of assets by the MPs,” the report had stated.