By IANS,
New Delhi: Citing the possibility of a corrupt politician becoming the prime minister, anti-graft Lokpal Bill drafting panel co-chairperson Shanti Bhushan Tuesday wrote a 14-page letter to his co-chair and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee justifying the demand to bring the head of government under the purview of the law.
“What if Madhu Koda or A. Raja become the prime minister of this country? What if a prime minister, who is privy to the security secrets, sells such crucial information,” he inquired in the letter, the second in two days.
The former union law minister said that the central government under the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) was obligated to bring the prime minister, MPs, judges and government officials at all level under the purview of the Lokpal Bill.
The co-chairman of the joint drafting committee described as “curious” the government’s opposition to the live telecast of the drafting committee’s proceedings and asked for an explanation as to why the government was opposed to it.
He said that it was difficult to digest the government’s contention that such a telecast would prevent the members from expressing their views freely.
“We are really curious why the government is against the idea of telecasting live the proceedings of the committee. The people ought to know the reasons why there is a difference between your and our viewpoint,” Bhushan wrote in the letter to Mukherjee.
“The five civil society members of the committee do not have any hesitation in expressing their opinion freely if it were telecast. Why should the government members have a problem in expressing their free opinion publicly,” he asked.
Meanwhile, he also asked for copies of the audio recordings of the proceedings so far.
“I would request you to kindly provide us with copies of the audio recordings of all the proceedings so far. As members of the committee, it seems to us that we have a right to have the copies of the same,” he said.