Supreme Court of India holds no interference in Lokpal Bill drafting committee.

SC says no to interference in 
Lokpal bill drafting committee 

SC says no to interference in Lokpal bill drafting committee

Source: Agency | Date: 6/28/2011 3:41:56 PM | eNews Bharati

New Delhi  Jun  28 : In a major development  the Supreme Court said it will not interfere in the constitution of the joint committee for drafting of the Lokpal Bill and termed the petitions "premature".

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia decided to adjourn the hearing on three public interest litigations (PILs)  till mid-July. The Apex court didn’t accept the petitioner’s plea that the committee would draft the bill by June 30. Honorable justice said,

“ In one petition filed by Mahan Dal, a political party in Haryana said that a bill of such a great national importance shouldn't be drafted in haste or under pressure from Anna Hazare and others as it would set a bad example. "Whether a decision affecting the whole of the nation can be taken so suddenly without having a public debate on such a national issue of great public importance?

"Whether the government could take an action under the threat or pressure from one of the citizens of the country and whether this would not create a bad precedent for future? "Ultimately the government succumbed to the pressure of Anna Hazare and hurriedly came out with a resolution on April 8 2011," it was said in one of the petitions filed by counsel R K Kapoor. The PIL also said that the composition of the joint drafting committee was totally partisan, arbitrary and not in national interest.

A PIL express fears that enactment of Lokpal would be against  the spirit of Article 50 of the Constitution of India. It will wipe out the separation of the judiciary from the executive.

"A decision affecting the whole nation cannot be taken so suddenly without having a public debate on such a national issue of great public importance. The government cannot take action under threat or pressure from one of the citizens of the country and such succumbing to pressure tactics would create a bad precedent for future,

" it was said in one of the petitions filed.  The petition also said that the joint drafting committee should be expanded and more persons from different fields like women, minorities, media, academics etc. and others be included to give it a un-biased and non-partisan touch. In second petition Kaushal Kishore Shukla, through counsel Jitender Singh, had demanded inclusion of Leader of the Opposition in the drafting panel. In third PIL advocate Manoharlal Sharma challenged the notification but also asked the Apex court to order a CBI inquiry into alleged illegal activities of Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, the father-son duo.

Most corrupts are in Lok Pal Panel ? Why Dr. Subramanian Swamy and Swami Ramdev are out of this panel, while these two Swamis are most prominent in their Anti Corruption Movements ?

CD dirt on Lok Pal eve..... Bhushan files complaint, Amar sprays acid

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | The Telegraph Kolkata.

Shanti Bhushan (top); Amar Singh New Delhi, April 15: An audio CD has popped up in Delhi to muddy the waters on the eve of the first meeting of the joint drafting committee on Lok Pal. The disc features purported conversation among Shanti Bhushan, a representative of the civil society supporting Anna Hazare as well as the co-chairman of the drafting panel, Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav. The alleged conversation touches upon some work apparently involving “fixing judges”. The CD has clear voices and it appears the conversations were recorded before 2009 as former law minister H.R. Bharadwaj’s name figures. A voice resembling that of Shanti Bhushan is heard saying that most judges are corrupt and this case won’t require more than Rs 4 crore. The same voice also says his son was making good money through public interest litigation and the Chief Justice was appointing judges for monetary considerations. Shanti Bhushan, a former law minister, has lodged a first information report with police, disputing the authenticity of the CD and alleging a criminal conspiracy to defame him. Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan’s son and a member of the drafting panel, said the disc appeared to be part of an organised campaign against them in the backdrop of their involvement with the Jan Lok Pal Bill. Amar, who is no longer a part of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, soon jumped into the fray to confound the confusion. Amar spoke to the media with gay abandon, neither categorically denying nor confirming the conversation but managing to sow many seeds of doubt. While he tentatively denied remembering any such conversation, he said he might have had 14,000 conversations with Mulayam Singh and many of those could have been related to legal issues. He said the CD appeared to have been doctored but didn’t deny the voice was his. Shanti Bhushan denied meeting Amar ever in the recent past but the politician said he had met him only very recently. Amar also said Shanti Bhushan should now clarify if the voice in the CD was his. Amar, who had been complaining about conversations being taped, said that while arguing a case against him in the Supreme Court, Prashant Bhushan had not only demanded that the tapes be made public but had also quoted its excerpts there. Amar said: “When the CD is about Amar Singh, it is fine, when it is about Bhushan, it is fake. What is good for Peter Singh is good for Paul Bhushan too. It shouldn’t happen that WikiLeaks is good when it corners Manmohan Singh and it becomes wicked when it exposes Arun Jaitley.” “I thank Anna Hazare. Gandhiji had given three monkeys to the nation, he has given two,” Amar added. Amar said “benefit of doubt” should be accorded to the Bhushans as anything was possible with today’s technology but same rule should be applied for everyone. Asked if he had had any such conversation with Mulayam Singh, Amar said: “After the treatment of my kidney, I have been under heavy medication. I remember my name, that is a big thing in itself.” Amar wanted to know who made the CD, repeatedly asking, “Is Pappu ka papa kaun hai(Who has fathered this CD)?” He denied having leaked the CD himself but hinted at too many conspiracies at work. Asked if the controversy would affect tomorrow’s meeting, minister and panel member Kapil Sibal said: “I have nothing to say. But why should we protest? We know nothing about the CD.”