The Jan Lokpal Bill is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year. Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal,the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated.
It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission. Anna Hazare began a fast-unto-death today, demanding that this bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted. The website of the India against Corruption movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an “eyewash” and has on it a critique of that government Bill. It also lists the difference between the Bills drafted by the government and civil society.
In two hundred cities across India on Tuesday, thousands of college students, young executives and housewives joined a campaign that asks the government to enact an important new law to fight corruption. At the centre of the movement is respected social activist Anna Hazare who has begun a hunger strike that he says will not end till the government proves its commitment to the Jan Lokpal Bill.It seeks to completely insulate politicians from any kind of action against them”.
Mr Hazare visited Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat on Tuesday morning in Delhi. He then drove in an open jeep to India Gate, accompanied by hundreds of supporters. As he marched to Jantar Mantar, schoolchildren could be seen waving the national flag. Since autumn, the country has confronted an epidemic of corruption within the government. The Commonwealth Games, a massive telecom scandal, and the appropriation by politicians and bureaucrats of a high-rise.
