Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it is the Superman !
Very soon India could have its own Superman, that is if the Lokpal bill ever sees the light of the day and like the famous cartoon character he will take on the nation’s criminal and crooks, banishing them from the face of the earth for ever !
Undoubtedly the hordes of netizens who had thronged the Jantar Mantar complex a few months back and later on went on to hold a candle light vigil at the India Gate, and attended baba Ramdev’s rally at Ramlila maidan believe so.
With the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), CVC (Chief Vigilance Commission) and a number of other agencies which are proposed to be brought under him, the Lokpal could very well turn out to be the best thing that happened to India.
Given sweeping powers for prosecution, he or she could put a sense of fear in the hearts of the high & mighty of the judicial, political and bureaucratic world, acting as an Ombudsman for the 1.2 billion Indians.
Alas if only such dreams could turn into reality, for the Lokpal’s task, if and when it comes into being, is going to be a pretty tough one ! Starting with the need to be strictly non-partisan, as with dozens of major political groups, each with its own agenda, a politician being targeted would lose no time in taking to the roads, calling a attack on him as an insult to the people who elected him !
Moreover the Lokpal will not be able to act in isolation, needing a minimal of supporting staff. Information may not automatically flow into his office and all cases would need to be investigated in detail, and a fate worse than that of Santosh Hegde of Karnataka may await him.
Cases of red herrings being floated to discredit other parties cannot be ruled out. God forbid if the PM and the Chief Justice of Supreme court are also brought into its orbit, for it could soon bring all activities of the judiciary and the Government to a grinding halt. Signs are already evident in various corridors of power, where passing the buck and dawdling over simplest of decisions has become quite endemic.
What is perhaps more urgent is judicial reforms, which will ensure that all cases, from lowest to the highest levels are completed in specific time frame, in a few weeks, and not allowed to drag on for years on end negating the very purpose of setting up the institution of Lokpal !
We already have PAC (Public Accounts Committee) loaded with powerful Lok Sabha MPs, and the CAG (Comptroller and Accountant General) who is the premier accounting agency to keep track of all financial misadventures indulged in by the worthy politicians ably aided by the ‘babus’. However most of them end up being a post-facto review well after the deed, or rather the misdeed, is done !
Very often those accused have retired or even died, and only their pensions can be utilized for recovery of losses. Extreme measures of attaching property, as in the recent case of Madhu Koda , the erstwhile Chief Minister of Jharkhand etc. have to be with specific court order unless Lokpal assumes such sweeping powers.
In some cases corrective measures are ordered by PAC or CAG but it is always a case of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted ! One has to wait and see how quickly the dozen or so high profile under trials lodged in the Tihar jail are meted out justice. With each heavy weight opting to fight upto the Supreme court the battle may easy stretch for a decade.
Proposed to be modeled on the institution of ‘Ombudsman’, a very much ‘Norse’ (Danish Swedish and Norwegian) concept, where it is still alive and kicking, he could be an official, appointed by the government or the Parliament, charged with representing the interests of the ‘Aam admi’, investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens.
Advantage of an Ombudsman lies mainly in the fact that he or she examines complaints from outside the offending state institution, thus avoiding the conflicts of interest inherent in self-policing.
However effectiveness of the Lokpal will ultimately depend on the selection of an appropriate individual for the office, and last but not the least cooperation of state officials. Anna Hazare could be the best choice, but reportedly he has already refused the crown of thorns.
Very soon India could have its own Superman, that is if the Lokpal bill ever sees the light of the day and like the famous cartoon character he will take on the nation’s criminal and crooks, banishing them from the face of the earth for ever !
Undoubtedly the hordes of netizens who had thronged the Jantar Mantar complex a few months back and later on went on to hold a candle light vigil at the India Gate, and attended baba Ramdev’s rally at Ramlila maidan believe so.
With the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), CVC (Chief Vigilance Commission) and a number of other agencies which are proposed to be brought under him, the Lokpal could very well turn out to be the best thing that happened to India.
Given sweeping powers for prosecution, he or she could put a sense of fear in the hearts of the high & mighty of the judicial, political and bureaucratic world, acting as an Ombudsman for the 1.2 billion Indians.
Alas if only such dreams could turn into reality, for the Lokpal’s task, if and when it comes into being, is going to be a pretty tough one ! Starting with the need to be strictly non-partisan, as with dozens of major political groups, each with its own agenda, a politician being targeted would lose no time in taking to the roads, calling a attack on him as an insult to the people who elected him !
Moreover the Lokpal will not be able to act in isolation, needing a minimal of supporting staff. Information may not automatically flow into his office and all cases would need to be investigated in detail, and a fate worse than that of Santosh Hegde of Karnataka may await him.
Cases of red herrings being floated to discredit other parties cannot be ruled out. God forbid if the PM and the Chief Justice of Supreme court are also brought into its orbit, for it could soon bring all activities of the judiciary and the Government to a grinding halt. Signs are already evident in various corridors of power, where passing the buck and dawdling over simplest of decisions has become quite endemic.
What is perhaps more urgent is judicial reforms, which will ensure that all cases, from lowest to the highest levels are completed in specific time frame, in a few weeks, and not allowed to drag on for years on end negating the very purpose of setting up the institution of Lokpal !
We already have PAC (Public Accounts Committee) loaded with powerful Lok Sabha MPs, and the CAG (Comptroller and Accountant General) who is the premier accounting agency to keep track of all financial misadventures indulged in by the worthy politicians ably aided by the ‘babus’. However most of them end up being a post-facto review well after the deed, or rather the misdeed, is done !
Very often those accused have retired or even died, and only their pensions can be utilized for recovery of losses. Extreme measures of attaching property, as in the recent case of Madhu Koda , the erstwhile Chief Minister of Jharkhand etc. have to be with specific court order unless Lokpal assumes such sweeping powers.
In some cases corrective measures are ordered by PAC or CAG but it is always a case of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted ! One has to wait and see how quickly the dozen or so high profile under trials lodged in the Tihar jail are meted out justice. With each heavy weight opting to fight upto the Supreme court the battle may easy stretch for a decade.
Proposed to be modeled on the institution of ‘Ombudsman’, a very much ‘Norse’ (Danish Swedish and Norwegian) concept, where it is still alive and kicking, he could be an official, appointed by the government or the Parliament, charged with representing the interests of the ‘Aam admi’, investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens.
Advantage of an Ombudsman lies mainly in the fact that he or she examines complaints from outside the offending state institution, thus avoiding the conflicts of interest inherent in self-policing.
However effectiveness of the Lokpal will ultimately depend on the selection of an appropriate individual for the office, and last but not the least cooperation of state officials. Anna Hazare could be the best choice, but reportedly he has already refused the crown of thorns.
Like the RTI, the Lokpal’s office is bound to be manned at the higher levels by retired ‘babus’, not a very promising initiative for India, where the ‘babudom’ is world renowned for its immense capability to obfuscate, and create road blocks, in any investigation or follow up action.
Unfortunately, unlike the Queen in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol, the ‘Lokpal’ may not enjoy the luxury of ordering ‘off with her head’, and people would soon get disillusioned about its effectiveness , a sad end to all this agitation and the hype created by the electronic media always looking for the sensational story !
Perhaps the way rioters in UK last week were dealt with needs to be studied in detail and emulated. The Police managed to identify over 1500 rioters, arrested, charged AND Jailed them within the course of a week, sometimes with courts sitting overnight to deal with the cases placed before them.
Perhaps the way rioters in UK last week were dealt with needs to be studied in detail and emulated. The Police managed to identify over 1500 rioters, arrested, charged AND Jailed them within the course of a week, sometimes with courts sitting overnight to deal with the cases placed before them.
Like the ‘garam chuhla rule’ of management, law enforcement agencies reaction, to breaking a law must be swift, and unbiased so that the law breaker whosoever he or she may be is dissuaded from indulging in it again. It would also serve as an abject lesson to those who may be contemplating to break the law including indulging in corrupt practices.
Systems may change, but people to deliver the results are the same, and effectiveness of the Lokpal will entirely hinge on the team he chooses to build.
R.C.Acharya,
R.C.Acharya,
former Member, Railway Board,
email acharya@bol.net.in
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