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Journalism of Courage
Underlining that the Constitution was supreme and sovereignty lies with the Parliament in the matter of legislation, the BJP today declined to spell out its views on the proposed Lokpal Bill as sought by the government.
Instead,it reminded the UPA that it had never sought the opinion of political parties but was now approaching them given that there were differences between the government and the civil society representatives in the drafting panel.
Replying to Pranab Mukherjees letter seeking the partys views on six issues including inclusion of Prime Minister and higher judiciary in the ambit of the Lokpal BJP chief Nitin Gadkari wrote: Expecting political parties to give their views to a drafting committee comprising of civil society representatives for acceptance or otherwise would be upsetting the constitutional propriety where parties,parliamentarians and the Parliament have the last word. They are the decision-makers and not suggestion givers.
Gadkari pointed out that propriety demands that various stakeholders and interested groups give their opinions to parties,MPs and eventually to Parliament so that they can be factored in when we formulate our stand on the Bill.
It would therefore be appropriate that when you prepare the final draft legislative proposal in relation to Lokpal,you can consult us before it is introduced in Parliament for our suggestions. In case,there is a divergence of opinion between members of the drafting committee,the final proposals carrying both viewpoints can be sent to us for our views at that stage. It would not be proper for parties and Parliamentarians to start submitting their opinions to others for acceptance or rejection, he said.
Party sources said that the BJP does not agree with many of the demands put forth by Team Anna Hazare but the feeling is that expressing this opinion now would help the government in its conflict with civil society groups.
Replying to Pranab Mukherjees letter seeking its views on six issues including inclusion of Prime Minister and higher judiciary in the ambit of Lokpal BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said the party would give its views after the final draft is prepared and before its introduction in Parliament.
While it declined to get into the specifics of the Lokpal Bill which it called a landmark proposal the party continued its attack on the UPA over corruption,the dominant theme on Day One of the national executive meet here. In his presidential address,Gadkari targeted the Prime Minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi saying they cannot run away from the responsibility as far as corruption is concerned.
Though the BJP was in favour of bringing the PM under the ambit of Lokpal,sources said it was not sure about the higher judiciary. Gadkari indicated as much he demanded the setting up of an independent mechanism to deal with the appointment of Lokpal and forming a National Judicial Commission to deal with appointments of judges and to look into complaints against their conduct.
Demanding a Judicial Commission indicates that the BJP isnt in favour of bringing the higher judiciary within the purview of Lokpal a stand taken by Baba Ramdev as well. Gadkari also sought introduction of laws to confiscate properties acquired by public servants using graft money and barring persons with criminal record from entering politics,demands that find mention in the Jan Lokpal bill circulated by Team Anna.
Gadkari said the economist Prime Minister would not even get 25 per cent marks as the UPA has become the by-word for non-performance.
