In the year 2011 we saw lots of development. From winning Cricket World Cup to the death of Osama, but the event and the development which was on the headlines throughout the year, specially the second half, was the protest led by Anna Hazare to make the Jan Lokpal Bill as a law in the country.

Anna Hazare with his team, as well as Baba Ramdev, tried to their best they could to make the government take this necessary step. But every time the discussion took place in the parliament, disappointment was the only thing which we all got. Today, all the anger is on the current ruling government, despite of various parties, including BJP, voiced against the bill in the parliament few days back. Though now BJP claims that it voted against the bill because they don't want a weak Government's bill but want a strong bill like Jan Lokpal.

Lokpal bill is not a new thing. It was first introduced in Lok Sabha in 1968 and after that it has been introduced many times but was a failure each time. The question is, if BJP is really in support of strong Lokpal bill, then why did it not pass when it formed the ruling government from 1999-04?

We analyze and look back on the news papers of that time and try to find the answer.

Friday, January 26, 2001: The LokPal Bill, as appeared on The Hindu.

MR. ATAL BEHARI Vajpayee's recent statement about to the Lok Pal Bill settles the question about whether the office of the Prime Minister will fall within its purview. Over the last couple of months, there have been (unfounded) worries that conflicting views within the Union Government over the wisdom of including the Head of Government within the Bill's ambit would eventually result in the Prime Minister's exclusion, thereby diluting the proposed legislation in a significant way. Although fears were expressed that inclusion may result in the Prime Minister's office being open to all manner of charges (including frivolous ones), bringing the Head of Government within the purview of the Lok Pal legislation is essential to send out the important signal that no one - irrespective of the importance of the office he holds - is above the law. An earlier draft of the Lok Pal Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1998 (not passed because of the collapse of the previous BJP-led Government) specifically brought the Prime Minister within its ambit. Therefore, there was never any justification for the latest draft Bill to alter this provision. One of the major reasons why a Lok Pal Bill has failed to be passed by successive Governments is differences over the question of inclusion - those opposed strongly arguing that the Prime Minister's office must be insured from the risk of too much litigation.

Then Prime Minister was not only thinking of bringing the Lokpal Bill back on table, but according to the news above, BJP had introduced the Lokpal bill in 1998 but couldn't be passed because the government had collapsed after a mere 13 months of term.

On April 18, The Union cabinet had cleared the Lokpal bill to be brought to the Parliament for review. Like the previous version of the bill under BJP government, this one also included Prime Minister under it.

April 18, 2001: Cabinet clears Lokpal Bill, as appeared on The Times of India.

The Union Cabinet is understood to have on Tuesday night cleared the long-discussed Lokpal Bill to check corruption in high places, bringing within its ambit the office of the Prime Minister and members of Parliament. 

The Bill, which has been awaiting government's nod, aims at ensuring probity in public life. 

The approval of the cabinet, at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, comes barely a month after the Tehelka expose of corruption in fictitious defence deals. 

The bill would now be brought before parliament to secure its passage. The ruling NDA in its election manifesto had pledged that its government would enact the Lokpal Bill with adequate powers to deal with corruption charges against anyone, including the Prime Minister. 

"In the administration of justice, we shall not allow discrimination between the rich and the poor, the empowered and the powerless, restore the majesty of law and objectivity of the state," it had said. 

The Bill, which has been awaiting government's nod, aims at ensuring probity in public life.

After the green signal from the Union cabinet, the bill headed towards the parliament and was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 14th.


August 14, 2001; Lokpal Bill Introduced in Lok Sabha Eighth Time, as appeared on The Hindu

The Lokpal Bill, seeking to check corruption in high places in the Government, including the office of the Prime Minister, was introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

The much-awaited but often-delayed bill was introduced by the Minister of State for Personnel and Pension, Ms. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, amid noisy scenes over alleged police excesses at a DMK rally in Chennai.

The bill, providing for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries, including the Prime Minister, has been in the pipeline for more than three decades.

It proposes to appoint the Lokpal and two members by the President on the recommendation of a committee headed by the Vice-President and comprising the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Home Minister, Leader of the House other than the House in which the Prime Minister is a member and Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The Lokpal will inquire into complaints alleging that a public functionary has committed an offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The ``public functionary'' will cover the Prime Minister, the Ministers, the Ministers of State, the Deputy Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Other constitutional functionaries such as Judges of the Supreme Court, the Election Commissioners have been kept out of the purview of the bill.


Later the bill received tough response and criticism from opposition and other parties, specially there was a disagreement among them on the inclusion of Prime Minister under the range of this bill.

August 16, 2001; Is Lokpal Bill headed for panel again? as appeared on The Times of India

V K Malhotra said the government was keen to pass the bill in this session, sources in the union cabinet indicated that since this was a "fresh bill", which had serious implications, the "normal practice" would be to send it to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny before taking it up. 

A senior cabinet minister compared the lokpal bill to the women's reservation bill: he said while no one would dare oppose it publicly, there was virtually an unspoken understanding among parties not to allow it to come to the house for voting, as it would be politically embarrassing to be seen defeating it there.

The Samajwadi party says the MPs should be left out from the scrutiny of the lokpal. The main opposition party, the congress, which has publicly stated it supports the bill and wants it passed in this session, is also internally ambivalent on the issue. Of course, if the bill comes up for voting in the house, it is committed to pushing it through. The bill provides for inquiry into any complaint against ministers of the union government, including the prime minister and MPs. 

After deep reviews and discussion, the bill was rejected in the Parliament as the majority of the opposition and other political parties didn't agree and considered a lot of revisions, like exclusion of MPs and Prime Minister.

It was only two years from that day that BJP led government again cleared the Lokpal bill in 2003, which again included the Prime Minister.

June 28, 2003; Cabinet clears new Lok Pal Bill, as appeared on The Hindu.

The Union Cabinet has once again decided to put in place a Lok Pal regime, intended to check corruption in high places.

The office of Prime Minister has also been brought under the jurisdiction of the proposed Lok Pal. The Government would try to get the proposal passed in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting this evening presided over by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajapayee.

The Cabinet decided to incorporate the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs on the Lok Pal Bill, 2001 (introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 14, 2001).

The Standing Committee presented its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman on December 31, 2001; and, the report itself was laid on the table of the House on February 26, 2002.

Like its many predecessors, the Vajpayee Government too has intermittently sought to mobilise parliamentary support for an anti-corruption institutional watchdog. In fact, the first time a Lok Pal Bill was introduced was as early as 1969; since then, six more attempts were made, and each legislative initiative was allowed to lapse, invariably with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

Finally, the attempt by BJP to promote this bill to form a law went in vain as the Government was brought down in the 2004 elections by the powerful public of India. Congress led UPA formed the government and the progress in Lokpal bill was blocked. Today Anna Hazare, his team and many other intellectuals are repeatedly explaining and encouraging government to promote this bill as it is for the good of all.

Lets begin the new year 2012 with the hope of seeing this bill as Law which will be good for India and hence for the world.

Disclaimer: We don't support or criticize any political party, however we are keen on researching, analyzing and publishing what is not very known.

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