Hon. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on
behalf of my party, I wish to state that the Parliament is a supreme
law-making body. Any legislation in this country should be passed only
in this House. Only this House has the capacity to create laws. Sir,
the representatives of civil society wanted a Lokpal. The Government had
also agreed for a Lokpal. There are only five contentious issues which
the Government has not accepted. One among those issues is to include the
Office of the Prime Minister within the purview of the Lokpal Bill.
There are four other issues which we have not discussed. In fact, when our
party was in power, we had introduced one such Bill in which we included
the Chief Minister within the purview of the Bill. Likewise, we had also
requested the Government to include the Prime Minister140 also within the scope of the Lokpal
Bill. There are different views on this issue. Some parties do accept that160 the Office of Prime Minister should come
within the scope of the Lokpal Bill and some parties do not accept that. Sir,
there are other contentious issues. One issue is that for a similar crime, two
people will be given two different punishments. For example, if a peon gets a
bribe of Rs.50, he will be punished for three months whereas if
an IAS officer gets a bribe of Rs.50, he will be punished for one year.
Likewise, the civil society wants different punishments to different people for
a similar crime. Can we accept that? Is it not against the provisions of the
Constitution? Is it not against the provisions of the criminal laws of this
land? It is for280 this
Parliament to go into the provisions of the Lokpal Bill and decide
on it. We have to go to the people after every five years and we have to
face the people. We have to get elected. We have to320 tell the people what we have done
in this House. But the civil groups do not have any accountability.
They are not going to the people, but we are going to the people and
we are responsible to the people of this land. The people have to elect us
once again. So, we should not lose our responsibility. We should not forego our
responsibility to a group which is outside this House.
Sir,
there is ample scope even for the Opposition Parties to speak when the Bill
comes for discussion in this House. The Bill has now been referred to420 the Standing Committee. The civil society
and others can go to the Standing Committee and express their views on this
Bill. So, they are not shunted out and they are also not kept away
from this. I would only make a request that Parliament should not lose
its right; Parliament should not give away its right of making
legislation.480 This is a sort
of pressure on Parliament. I can say that this is a sort of blackmailing
and threatening Parliament, which means that the Members of
Parliament have failed in their duty. This is not proper, but at
the same time I would only make a request that any peaceful agitation
should be allowed. What had happened in Tamil Nadu when we were agitating
against the Government? We were not given permission. So, the State
Government should be instructed to560
permit any peaceful agitation. In that way, this Government should also impress
upon the Delhi Government to allow any peaceful agitation but at the same
time we have to uphold the Constitution by not allowing the outside groups to
put pressure on Parliament.
Mr. Chairman, Sir,
yesterday’s incident reminds us of emergency days. It was nothing but a murder
of democracy in our country. In a democratic country people have the
right to protest. The Prime Minister, in his640
Statement, has stated that the Bill has been introduced, it has
been referred to the Standing Committee, and therefore, people have no
right to protest and agitate. What happened yesterday? There was no
provocation. The situation did not warrant the arrest of Shri Anna Hazare.
He wanted to start his fast. He requested the Government to allow him to hold
his700 agitation in Jantar
Mantar. But that was not allowed. We do not know what the
reason might be and why he was not allowed. But when he was given the
permission, he was allowed to hold his fast. Why were so many conditions
imposed? Why was he asked to limit his programme to four days? What was the
problem? Why is the Government intolerant? Whenever there is agitation against
corruption, the Government is intolerant. They had no hesitation in meeting
with the protesters. Five representatives from Anna Hazare’s team and five
Ministers of the Government discussed the issue continuously. 800 They had several meetings and when the
dialogue failed, when they could not arrive at a conclusion or arrive at an
agreement, the meeting of the political parties was called. The
Government forgot to consult the political parties before the Government840
held dialogue with Anna Hazare. We all attended that meeting. We know the
Parliament has the right to make legislation. But when a Bill is introduced in
the Parliament and you refer it to the Standing Committee, do the people
not have the right to agitate or right to protest? This happened several times.
The Government cannot take away the right of the people to protest or to speak
against any of the decisions of the Government. In this particular case,
the Government is so intolerant. The Prime Minister has reminded us in his
statement that as the Bill has been introduced in Lok Sabha, if anybody has
to say anything, they can place their views in the Standing Committee. 960 We have the experience as to how
many amendments of the Standing Committee are accepted by the Government. It is980 because these are not mandatory
but rather recommendatory.
The
Bill, which has been introduced and referred to the Standing Committee,
is weak and ineffective. If the institution of Lokpal is constituted under the
proposed Bill, it will not be able to tackle the problem of corruption.
Our Prime Minister has said that corruption is like cancer and it must be
rooted out. But the proposed Lokpal Bill, and the measures that the Government
has taken, will not be able to tackle the problem of corruption. For
the last two years, we have been discussing how the proliferation of
corruption is taking place in high places in our country. To tackle this
problem, there is a need for an effective Lokpal. But the present Bill is quite
ineffective. Yesterday, when Anna Hazare was arrested, was there any problem of
law and order? 1120 Was there
any kind of violence? Since then, the entire nation is on the street. Thousands
of people are coming out of their houses protesting against anti-democratic,
autocratic and fascist action of the Government. The support of
the people is not for the individual. People are coming out because of the
extent of corruption in high places. The people of the country are protesting
against the corruption that is there in the high places. When thousands of
people attended the protest in Delhi, police went and attacked them in
midnight. We condemn the way the Government has handled the situation as we
condemn the way the democratic right of the people of our country was trampled
upon. We condemn this undemocratic action of the Government. We consider it
murder of democracy in our country. People have inalienable right to
protest; 1260 you cannot take
away this right from them. Do people not have the right to protest or agitate? The
Government1280 arrested Anna
Hazare and put him behind the bar. The Government wanted to keep him in the
same jail where one former minister, another Congress leader and one more Member
of Parliament belonging to the ruling ally have been lodged. It has
happened for the first time in our country since we attained
Independence. This has never happened before. A former Minister is in jail for
having indulged in corruption; a Congress leader is in jail; and a Member of
Parliament belonging to an ally of the Government is in jail. They have the
right to indulge in corrupt practices, but people will not have the right to
protest or agitate against corruption.
Mr.
Chairman, Sir, with a heavy heart,1400
we are discussing an issue which should not have been deliberated in
this House. I would not say that it is a non-issue, but the manner in
which the issue cropped up yesterday and one event led to another has1440 forced this Parliament to deliberate on
that issue. Today, the discussion is not on the Lokpal Bill, which is before
the Parliament, but the issue is the civil liberty that has been trampled
upon by the Delhi Police. The issue is how the law should be adhered to and how
the law should be enforced in a free and democratic country. The 65th
Independence Day was grey and wet, and the day after the Independence Day was
also grey, but it was quite different. It started with anguish, and by the
evening many people were full of anger. I would say that the action of
the Delhi Police is deplorable and undemocratic. There was an attempt to muzzle
the freedom and the fundamental right of the citizens of this country.
The Delhi Police has not acted on its own. No Police acts on its own. They
always wait for the orders from above. 1593
