Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has indicated that his Government has started the process to make Jan lokpal Bill a reality. The Government is gearing up to bring the Bill in the coming Budget Session of the Assembly. Kejriwal had resigned from the chief ministerial post last year after lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung prevented him to table the Jan lokpal Bill 2014 without following normal procedures. Kejriwal was adamant that Bill should be tabled in the Delhi Assembly and it will follow all procedures later.
Kejriwal on Wednesday tweeted that Government has started working on Jan lokpal Bill. “Started working on Jan lokpal Bill,” the Chief Minister said in a tweet. The tweet came at a time when there was no meeting at Players Building regarding Jan lokpal Bill. Neither Chief Minister nor Deputy Chief Minister held any meeting on Jan lokpal Bill in the recent past. When asked, officials say that it seems that the Chief Minister has tweeted on Jan lokpal Bill to divert attention from Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav.
According to officials, the Government will present the Jan lokpal Bill with some minor modification in the coming Budget session. “Administrative department has started reviewing the old draft of Jan lokpal Bill, which had been introduced during last 49-day AAP rule. And, if there is need to add new thing in the draft, the Government will do the same,” the official said.
Kejriwal had then accused both the Congress and the BJP of joining hands to defeat the Bill. “Officials have been asked to review the Jan lokpal Bill. After completion of this work, the Government will table the Bill during Budget Session in June,” official said. Official said that the Government is also working on “Swaraj Bill”, but it might take a little more time, adding that the Government was very serious about both Bills.
The Jan lokpal Bill (Citizen’s ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption Bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan lokpal, an independent body that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year.
Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and former lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without Government permission.