AAP wants amendment on lines of Uttarakhand bill
TEAM HERALD
[email protected]
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
PANJIM: The lobby of anti-graft crusaders has decided to submit a fresh draft of Goa Lokayukta Bill 2013 on lines with Uttarakhand bill to the State government in next 20 days, weeding out all the objectionable clauses in the bill and have demanded that till then the amended bill should be kept in abeyance.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is confident that the amended bill will not be forwarded to Goa Governor for its assent and the State government will wait for their suggestions.
AAP co-founder Prashant Bhushan, who was in Goa to address a meet, on Sunday met Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and discussed about objectionable clauses in the recently amended Goa Lokayukta Bill, which was passed on the floor of the House in January.
“The Chief Minister said that he is quite willing to bring a bill in line with Uttarakhand bill and hence has asked to send the draft of the bill making necessary changes,” Bhushan said.
“I have an impression that he would not send the current bill for the assent of the Governor and instead wait for forthcoming budget session to pass the bill with necessary changes,” he added.
Bhushan said that the new draft would be on lines with Uttarakhand Lokayukta bill, which is a fool-proof ombudsman body and a mirror image of Jan Lokpal Bill.
The activist pointed out that one of Chief Minister’s concern was over reputations been tarnished by false and malafide complaints. “I told him that if a person files a vexatious and malafide complaint just to accuse someone with no evidence to prove then the fine should be imposed but not to the extent as proposed in the amended bill,” he said.
Bhushan claimed that imposing a fine between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for false complaint and a punishment upto six years imprisonment will deter even a person with bonafide complaint to register before Lokayukta.
“If Lokayukta is pliable and if he says that the complaint is fake, even if it is genuine, then the complainant will have to pay fine of Rs 10 lakh or undergo imprisonment,” Bhushan said, adding that this can also deter a serious complaint.
He said that there should be punishment for the false complainant, but it should be balanced. Bhushan also pointed out that there is no independent investigation agency attached to Goa Lokayukta as per the bill.
The activist however congratulated government for selecting Justice (retired) B Sudarshan Reddy as Goa’s first Lokayukta. “It is a good decision,” he commented.
The Indian Against Corruption (IAC) and likeminded activists have objected to certain clauses in amended Goa Lokayukta Bill including a deemed extension clause.
Bhushan said that it is not unconstitutional for Lokayukta to ask the chief minister or a minister to step down if found guilty.
