Congress to blame most

Author: A Surya Prakash

Mrs Indira Gandhi and later Rajiv Gandhi had a huge majority in Parliament. Yet neither of them used that majority to legislate the Lokpal Bill.

When it comes to creation of an effective Lok Pal, India’s politicians have always dragged their feet and sought to hoodwink the people into believing that despite their efforts, the law has not entered the statute book because of some legal tangles and political developments well beyond their control. Is this true? When the history of this legislation is written, many political leaders, including two of India’s most powerful Prime Ministers, will be judged harshly.

The need for such an ombudsman was first articulated by the Administrative Reforms Commission in the 1960s. Such was the concern of the ARC in regard to mounting allegations of corruption that it produced an interim report and also a draft Bill to enable the Government to act swiftly on its recommendations. The Government, then headed by Mrs Indira Gandhi, responded with alacrity and introduced the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill in May 1968. But this Bill lapsed because it was pending in the Rajya Sabha when the fourth Lok Sabha was dissolved.

However, Mrs Gandhi re-introduced the Bill after returning to power with a thumping majority in 1971 but did not ensure its passage and allowed it to lapse yet again. Thereafter, the Janata Party Government introduced a fresh Lok Pal Bill in 1977, but this Bill too did not see the light of day because of the early dissolution of that Lok Sabha. After the Janata Party squandered the opportunity given by the people, Mrs Gandhi returned to power with a thumping majority in 1980. But despite her formidable strength in both Houses of Parliament, she took no initiative to establish the Lok Pal.

The Congress resumed its dalliance with the Lok Pal legislation soon after Rajiv Gandhi took over the reins and went through the motions of introducing a Lok Pal Bill in 1985. At that stage, Rajiv Gandhi’s Government was still in its honeymoon phase; he was seen as ‘Mr Clean’ who would cleanse the system and get rid of ‘power-brokers’ who he said were riding on the backs of poor people. Like his mother, Rajiv Gandhi had all the political strength (over 400 MPs in the Lok Sabha) to push a tough anti-corruption law through Parliament. But he too backed out and quietly withdrew the Bill.

Thereafter, a series of non-Congress Governments tried in vain to bring in this law. VP Singh’s Government re-introduced this legislation in 1989, but the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the ninth Lok Sabha. The Bill introduced by Mr HD Deve Gowda’s Government in September 1996 fell with the dissolution of the 11th Lok Sabha. The NDA Government’s initiative in August 1998 became history with the dissolution of the 12th Lok Sabha. Then a fresh attempt was made by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee to introduce the Bill in the 13th Lok Sabha, but it never saw the light of day.

What lessons can we draw from this? Undoubtedly, all the major players in the political field are guilty of dragging their feet in regard to the Lok Pal legislation. But some political leaders and parties are far more guilty than the others. Till 2011, the Lok Pal Bill had been introduced eight times in the Lok Sabha. On seven occasions it had lapsed because of the dissolution of the House. On one occasion it was withdrawn by the Government. The present UPA Government has introduced this Bill twice. It brought a Bill in August 2011 which it withdrew and introduced a fresh version in December 2011.

Under the Constitution, the Government can introduce a legislation in either House of Parliament. But the life of the Bills varies from House to House. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body in that it can never be dissolved. Hence, a Bill introduced in that House can survive and await an appropriate moment for passage. But the Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution. Hence, a Bill introduced in that House can face sudden death when the House is dissolved or when a Bill passed by it is pending in the Rajya Sabha. We can gauge the intentions of the political class when we realise that the Lok Pal Bill, which has lapsed on seven occasions, has never been introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

The need for a Lok Pal was first mooted in Parliament in 1963 when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. The first Bill was introduced in 1968 when Mrs Gandhi was Prime Minister and passed by the Lok Sabha in 1969, but the Government did not ensure its passage in the Rajya Sabha till the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in early-1971. What happened thereafter is even stranger. Mrs Gandhi re-introduced the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill in 1971. This Government imposed the dreaded Emergency, used its brute parliamentary majority to turn the Constitution on its head and even extended the life of the lok Sabha. But it did not ensure the passage of the Lokpal Bill.

Another Prime Minister who had humongous parliamentary majority was Rajiv Gandhi. He had more power in Parliament than Nehru and Mrs Gandhi. Yet he lacked the courage to establish a Lok Pal and withdrew the Bill which he had introduced. Among the non-Congress Governments, the Morarji Desai Government had the requisite strength in the Lok Sabha to begin with, but mid-way through its term it fell victim to internal desertions and collapsed and the Lok Pal bill went down with it. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, on the other hand, lasted a full term but failed to bring in this law after holding out much promise.

The ball is now in the Congress’s court and the party’s forked-tongued approach to setting up the Lok Pal is on display yet again. The party virtually ran away from the Rajya Sabha when MPs moved amendments to the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha. A standard explanation that the party now offers is that it does not, on its own, command a majority in Parliament and is therefore at the mercy of its coalition partners.

This may be true. But can we forget history? Would we be discussing the Lok Pal Bill in 2012 if the Congress had shown the courage to use its brute majority between 1971-77 and 1980-89 to establish this institution?

The above is from The Pioneer