Congress – BJP face off over Lokpal, but AAP could be the winner

The BJP and Congress locking horns over the selection, not of the Lokpal, but of the fifth member of the panel that will identify India's first Lokpal does not augur well for the implementation of what may prove to be a historic piece of legislation.

The UPA, doubtless, would like to push through the appointment of a Lokpal before the Lok Sabha polls. For a government facing crippling anti-incumbency over its apparent inaction and alleged participation in multiple scams running into hundreds of crores, appointing a Lokpal can hardly alter its legacy but the symbolism will be lost on nobody. If anything, the Congress-led UPA would, or should, want to grab this opportunity to prove it can establish genuine dialogue with the Opposition on the constitution of the search committee.

A protest for the Jan Lokpal Bill. File photo by Reuters

Instead, the setting up of the Lokpal Selection Committee has hit a roadblock with the Congress and BJP unable to see eye to eye on the appointment of the fifth member to the panel. The Congress, instead of playing a winning card by offering complete transparency in its nomination to the fifth spot, has bungled once again with a shortlist doing the rounds, only to be followed by a different shortlist released subsequently, fuelling speculation that the selection of the panel, and eventually of the person who will assume the office of the Lokpal, will be another self-serving political maneouvre.

Not only is the dispute threatening to turn ugly -- the BJP has threatened to take the matter to the President of India just ahead of another Parliament sesssion that will see as much acrimony and protests as the previous, mostly futile sessions of this Lok Sabha -- but the Congress leaders' lack of presence of mind will only throw more weight behind the Aam Aadmi Party's allegation that the UPA remains as intractable as ever on actually fighting corruption.

The AAP government in Delhi appears set to pass a Jan Lokpal Bill, its version of the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act considered one of the strongest anti-corruption measures by a state government. With everybody from a peon to the chief minister of Delhi set to fall under the ambit of the Delhi Lokayukta, the Aam Aadmi Party will claim another mini-victory, as well as delivery on another poll promise.

No prizes for guessing that the Jan Lokpal Bill, which the AAP government is hoping to pass without heeding the law department's view that it must be vetted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to check for consonance with the Central law on the same subject, is a few steps ahead of the latter in terms of who it covers, what punishment it proposes, etc.

Between the AAP government's apparent will to pass its bill despite anticipated opposition from the Congress and the Congress's lack of foresight on implementing the Central law, the Congress is clearly the loser.

According to the law, the selection committee will comprise the prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, a nominee of the Chief Justice of India (or the CJI himself) and a fifth member who is to be an eminent jurist, who is to be picked by the other four by consensus.

The name of the fourth member emerged last week with Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam nominating senior SC judge Justice HL Dattu.

The selection of the fifth member has emerged as a contentious issue with BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, also Leader of the Opposition in the LS and in that capacity a member of the selection panel, stating that PP Rao, a senior Supreme Court lawyer who the UPA appears to be backing, is a Congress loyalist. Swaraj said Rao had fought several cases in Supreme Court for the Centre and could therefore be partisan. BJP leaders have instead proposed the names of Harish Salve and K Parasaran, said reports.

The UPA had earlier shortlisted six senior lawyers for the fifth position on the selection committee. These included Soli Sorabjee, Fali S Nariman, K Parasaran, KK Venugopal, Harish Salve and A-G G E Vahanvati. The list, however, was later amended to retain Parasaran and Nariman's names, with the addition of PP Rao, Prof Upendra Baxi, Prof N R Madhava Menon, Prof Mohan Gopal and KN Chandrashekharan Pillai.