Solution to the vexed problem of Lokpal Bill

A political storm is brewing over the Country, may be rightly, on the massive Corruption issue. The cancer of Corruption has permeated into ever branch of governance-Political class, bureaucracy, Judiciary.

Lack of statesmanship and absence of a political leader of stature has driven the country to the brink of people’s lack of confidence on the governance.

Let me not go cynical. All that has been happening since August 16th have been well documented and repeated, for a further repetition here.

Government constituted a drafting Committee consisting of nominees of Shri Anna Hazare. It was not truly representative in character. To set up a drafting Committee with one set of civil society members was a Himalayan blunder. A Committee of 21 persons who have knowledge, ability, made has made the drafting Committee representative in character. This was not done. So government’s new experiment to frame laws with a few people whoever they may be, has resulted in distortions. Secondly, Government ignored the political class on the whole. This was an inept handling of a situation when Government should have tried for consensus.

The present draft of the Civil Society headed by Shri Anna Hazaraji is the draft written and compiled by the Bushan father and son. They have bias, as they are fighting many cases including Public Interest Litigations. Hence the clauses introduced by them will definitely show their subjective outlook on the Law as they see it.

The arrest of Shri Anna Hazareji as ‘Preventive detention’ boomeranged on the Government. The miscalculation or wrong mathematics of equating Shri Anna Hazare with Swami Ramdas took the wind out of the sails when the public rallied around Shri Anna Hazare. This miscalculation made Government loose the battle. All agitations grow out of a strong mind set of one or two intellectuals in the movement who articulate the strategy and act as inventors of the theory of agitation and its issues. This was not rightly assessed by the Government.

Coming back to the Jan Lokpal Bill, the gamble took by Anna Hazare paid off, because people wanted to express their dissatisfaction over massive corruption and the government’s inability to tackle it by citing Coalition dharma, inability to dismiss the Government because of Bommai Case, Political vote bank, partisan support of corrupt people by the ruling masters, etc. Indian democracy has become so corrupt and criminalized that it was endangering the constitutional systems. When all was unwell in the economy, salaries and perquisites of parliamentarians were raised. Political Reform should have been ushered so that people would have felt safe and secure against the economic ills affecting the country as world economy was reeling down.

The anger of people across the Country was so instantaneous and spontaneous that when Hazareji was arrested, there was large outpouring of support which has led to the present stalemate. After all this venture and adventure, Government wants to initiate dialogue with Anna Hazare Team. But, to negotiate with a stubborn Anna Hazare who is supported by the mass of people all over the Country and abroad, would not be easy for the Government given the weakness will of the present day Government.

One Scam (2G) amounted to the Foreign Reserves that RBI had placed in American Treasury Bonds, equivalent to Rs 1, 81 lakh Cr. The magnitude of the scam is mind boggling. CWG, items were never purchased and never available physically were paid for. There are more than 100 bills pending for payment. How did the PM increase the CWG budget many many times than was intended? What was the provocation and reason for this enlargement of the budget? Was it not undemocratic? . Was it Right of discretion? Why blame Comptroller and Auditor General for doing his duty of pointing this out?

Government, did they have sincerity or common agenda when they engaged the civil society in the drafting process of the Lok Pal Bill. From day one, they were hitting out at each other like cats and dogs. The contentious issues between Government representatives on the Lokpal drafting Committee narrowed down to two- one, bringing the Prime minister under the ambit of the Lokpal Bill and secondly, bringing the judiciary under Lokpal.

India has a written Constitution. The preamble of the Constitution says, “We, the people of India, have given unto ourselves this Constitution”. The present Indian Constitution was drafted by the Indian people, and the Constitution was given by the People to the Country. So this Constitution expresses the supremacy of the People over every thing. Fundamental Rights are absolute Rights enshrined in Chapter III of the Constitution. They are absolute Rights which cannot be revoked by Government at all under exceptional circumstances narrated in Article 356. (Keshavananda Bharati Vs State of Kerala, Golaknath Case). The Supreme Court has made it clear that the Basic structure of the Constitution cannot be amended, altered. If a Hon’ble Minister believes that Fundamental Rights are not absolute Rights, then he need to go in for a Refresher Course.

Constitution has the theory of separation of Powers. There are three Chambers which are given descriptive Powers. The Judiciary namely the Supreme Court has the power of original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction, absorbed jurisdiction, suo moto Power to initiate a case against anybody, transfer the jurisdiction of the case, initiate contempt proceedings against it, etc. The Power of the Judiciary to adjudicate cases between Union and States, States and States, etc are infallible rights expressed in ambiguous terms. Now, the Jan Lokpal Bill prescribes that the Judiciary be brought under its ambit by legislation in Parliament. Can the Legislature, including Indian parliament and Union of States take away the power of Courts, which form part and parcel of the Theory of Separation of Powers by the legislative power conferred on Parliament by the Constitution? Parliament by enactment, gets into prohibited theory of basic structure, and any bill if passed will the struck off ultra vires by the Courts/Court. The Jan Lokpal Bill has been empowered to punish the corrupt (Prosecution) on the basis of its own investigation, but where is the provision for appeal against the finding of the Jan Lokpal Act. If a Judge is convicted by Jan Lokpal Act, does he have a redress to go to Supreme Court. No. This is fundamentally against the ‘Rule of Law’ dictum and Parliament has no power to power of Punishment of anybody without his right to appeal to the Supreme Court which will decide the bonafide or malafide of the Lokpal Punishment. Judiciary has a right to accept an appeal under the Indian Constitution against any punishment awarded, any decision made by anybody including the President of India, and this Right of Appeal, cannot be taken away by the legislature by moving a Bill when passed becomes an Act.

Second, the inclusion of the Prime Minister in the Bill. He is the executive Head of the State. The Courts have decided in a Judgement (Supreme Court), that there shall always be a Council of Ministers to advice the President. President can go by the advice rendered by the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The only condition that is imposed by the Constitution is that he shall command the majority of the House. Theory of convenience does not make a Law defective which has been enacted under the advice of a Prime Minister who is adjudged guilty of election misconduct(adduced Supreme Court in Indira Gandhi Vs Raj Narain)(Justice V R Krishna Iyer who gave the judgement and Mr Shanti Bushan who argued for Raj Narayanan is one of the authors of the Jan lokpal Bill are alive and can be contacted) There is no provision in the Constitution which makes the Prime Minister holding office to be punished until the end of his term; and he enjoys immunity

Moderates and Radicals in the Civil Society are right in demanding a tough Lokpal Bill. Government need to lend its ears to the voice of the People. Government, has one pretext or the other postponed introducing the Bill in Parliament and it can flaunt no excuse to delay its introduction and promise a time bound action plan to pass the Bill and make it an enactment.

A stubborn Government which is not willing to listen to the People and claim sovereignty under the Constitution is doing a great harm to democracy. Any willful undermining of the People of this Country will not bear well for the future of the Nation. Government should come to agreement with Shri Anna Hazare and his team, and make an enabling environment for the smooth passage of the Lokpal Bill.

Disparity of earning

Often we talk about the disparity between the ‘haves’ and have-nots’. World’s devastating economy continues to be morbid. It does not get shaken by the Sheiks and other world class wealthy people whose rankings are announced by a magazine called ‘Forbes’. It is ambitious for the rich and the mighty to get a ranking in it. It proclaims one’s status as a rich man in the World.

The billionaire Club has been decreasing like Law of Diminishing Returns. Yesterday’s billionaire is today’s ‘ex-billionaire’. This Club has taken the severest hit in the past 15 months more than any other year since the Magazine started grading the richest to the rich. The total number of Billionaires around the globe plunged to a new low from a record number of 1125 in the beginning of 2008 to around 793 in March 2009. This decline of 332 billionaires in a year worked to 29.5%. The Net Present Worth of world’s billionaires dropped from $ 4.4 trillion (in 2008) to $ 2.4 trillion, the percentage of rate of decline @ 45.4%. This translates to a per capita wealth per billionaire @ $ 3 billion, a steep decline of 23% or a per capita drop of $ 910 million (against 2008 figures)

At least 373 people joined the ranks of "ex-billionaires" (355 as a result of business misadventures or declining asset values and 18 who died), while only 41 climbed onto the billionaire band wagon which included 38 newcomers and three who regained spots on the 10-figure list they'd lost earlier..
Indeed, the analysis carried out by Forbes clearly indicates real estate as the villain of the piece in reducing the ranks of billionaires, with more than 250 of the "2008 billionaires " registering substantial losses due to shrinking property values, which also accounted for drop in net worth among many of those who stayed on the list. When the property market crashed Ramesh Chandra's NPW (Net Present worth) plunged from $9.6 billion to just $600 million. Real Estate also played a crucial role in the depletion of wealth of India’s biggest loser Anil Ambani who was ranked No 6 in the 2008 list with a NPW of $ 42 billion. Real estate massive losses, which accounted for 76% of his fortune, left him with $ 10.1 billion and a ranking of 34 in the 2009 list.

29 of the Indian billionaires who figured in the list during 2008 lost their ranking while the remaining 23 of the 24 still on the list had diminished NPW. Russian billionaires figured in the hit-list with 55 of the 74 knocked out of the list while the remaining 19 with decreased wealth stood in the list due to inclined and depressed markets in metals, minerals, and other natural resources including gas. Mikhail Prokhorov, the richest Russian who still figures on the current list was ranked 40 with a fortune of $ 9.5 billion. The other six Russians who were in the top fifty dropped out of the list as their wealth depleted to below $ 1 billion.

United States became the greatest causality with 110 billionaires losing their rankings.

New York City alone lost 16 billionaires while media driven fortune of Micheal Bloomberg notched up $ 16 billion (from $ 11.5 billion 2008) to get listed at number 17 from his previous 65. Twenty-eight of the Manhattan billionaires who dealt in hedging funds lost their rankings while 11 managed to hold on to the list.
Among the celebrities, television giant Oprah Winfrey with a present worth of $ 2.7 billion. Designer Ralph Lauren with 4 2.8 billion and jetsetter Richard Branson with $ 2.6 billion managed to stay on the list. Dallas Mavericks (Mark Cuban) recorded his wealth at $ 2.3 billion while jerry Jones net worth came down to $ 1.3 billion as he ended up at the 559th spot in the Forbes List of Billionaires. Wang Chuanfu of China’s was a fresh entry (seller of electric cars in China) with a recorded wealth of $ 1.4 billion. He joins the illustrious band of 23 Chinese billionaires. . Germany’s Aloys Wobben (windmill manufacturing) found his way into the list with a record net worth of $ 3.5 billion. The top ten honours went to Bill gates ($ $ 40 billion), Warren Buffet ($37 billion), Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico)($35 b), Lawrance Ellison(422.56), Ingvar Kamprad(Sweden)($ 22.6 b), Karl Albrecht(Germany)($21.5 b), Mukesh Ambani (Ind)($19.5b), Lakshmi Mittal(Ind)($19.3b), Theo Albrecht(Ger)($18.8 b), Amanico Ortega(Spain) ($18.3 billion) [Courtesy: Forbes Magazine] Even though the list made surprising ups and downs for some, elimination for some others, the addition of 38 new billionaires to the diminutive group of billionaires may send comforting signals. 2008-9 will go down in history as the Year of Economic disaster. Will hope gather momentum in 2010? We will wait and watch