Thinking of quitting Lokpal Committee: Santosh Hegde

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, Apr 21: On an action-packed day, when charges and counter-charges flew over the controversies surrounding Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan - both members of the committee set up to draft a new law against corruption - the latest salvo has come from an apparently upset Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, who has said he is considering quitting the panel.

Hegde told media, "I am seriously thinking of quitting the Lokpal panel...I want to expose the vilification campaign." He said he would visit Delhi to discuss his plans with colleagues on his team. The former Supreme Court Judge is one of those that drafted the Jan Lokpal Bill, armed with which activist Anna Hazare had launched his hunger strike earlier this month.  

Mr Hedge said he was frustrated with the "smear campaign" launched against the representatives of civil society who were included reluctantly by the government on the drafting committee.

Earlier in the evening, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi - who have been among those fronting the India against Corruption campaign that Hegde is also a part of - said there was no question of Shanti or Prashant Bhushan resigning from the committee. "This is a malicious campaign and nobody will resign", said Mr Kejriwal at a press conference in Delhi. While both father and son are members of the panel that’s working on the Bill, Shanti Bhushan is also co-chairing the committee with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. 

A CD that surfaced last week - and was sent anonymously to media houses - has a conversation that is purported to be between Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh, and Shanti Bhushan. A voice resembling Mr Bhushan’s says that a judge can be bribed and that his son can handle this; the assignment he says will cost four crores.

While the Bhushans have produced two different lab reports that describe the CD as doctored, a government forensic lab today declared that the conversation on the CD does not appear to have been tampered with. 

What could be worrying for the Bhushans is that Mr  Hazare has distanced himself from the controversy. He said he will not comment on the CD and that it is a matter for the Bhushans to address.

Mr Bhushan, who has served as the country’s law minister, was picked by Mr  Hazare as the co-chairman of a new committee that is drafting an anti-corruption bill. Earlier this month, Mr Hazare went on a hunger strike to demand that the government get down straight away to the business of introducing the new Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill). Because the bill will target politicians, Mr Hazare said they cannot have sole charge. With lakhs of Indians throwing their weight behind Mr Hazare, the government agreed to the 72-year-old’s demands. The Lokpal Bill’s Drafting Committee now includes five ministers and five non-elected representatives, including Mr Hazare, and Shanti and Prashant Bhushan.

In the last few days, the Bhushans have stared at a series of allegations that suggest they are ill-placed to be anti-corruption crusaders. Civil activists like Mr Hazare have backed the Bhushans , accusing some within the Congress party among others of launching "a smear campaign" to damage their credibility and to thwart the role of civil activists in the drafting of the Lokpal Bill. Others - mainly politicians like Amar Singh and Digvijaya Singh - have said that the Bhushans must be held accountable to the same standards of ethics that they apply to politicians. Amar Singh today suggested that Shanti Bhushan should exit the drafting committee based on the lab report today on his CD.

Courtesy: NDTV