Break the deadlock

Sometimes, nonsense verse captures it. The film character Anthony Gonsalves, inspired by George Bernard Shaw, sang, "The whole country of the system is juxtapositioned by the haemoglobin in the atmosphere – because you are a sophisticated rhetorician, intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity." Few words apply better to the current Lokpal Bill stand-off. For this to break, the rhetoric must stop with ground being ceded – by both government and civil society representatives.

The civil society group seems to suggest that the Lokpal’s budget should be around one-fourth of total government revenue. This is an immense figure, which could easily swallow any gains made in curbing corruption. With the Lokpal’s work still to be quantified, demanding it in this manner raises eyebrows and opposition. Similarly, the group’s insistence on including the Supreme Court in the Lokpal’s purview provokes argument. It’s crucial to have a constitutional organisation overlooking the Lokpal itself. Also, lines of transparency will criss-cross dangerously if the Lokpal oversees the Supreme Court – that hears complaints against the Lokpal. It’s best to have a separate anti-corruption mechanism for the higher judiciary. The civil society group should also rethink demands for the CBI being placed under the Lokpal. The CBI could certainly assist the Lokpal in investigating corruption, but it has other work needing expertise. It would be farcical if the CBI were to shake off its present fetters, just for another set.

Alongside, the government must show it too can be civil. The accountability genie has flown out of the bottle and no obfuscation will cork it. With demands like states being free to accept or reject Lokayuktas, or the Lokpal only ‘recommending’ corruption proceedings to the government, the latter being free to dispose of them any way it sees fit, not much progress has been made by the government towards framing a Lokpal Bill with teeth. The government would do itself a favour by dropping these demands and pushing instead for a powerful Lokpal Bill, a move that’ll take the electorate by pleasant surprise.

And stun its opposition. In this melee the BJP has certainly not distinguished itself, eager to capitalise on the Congress’s predicament while not revealing its own position. It’s high time the discussion widens and all political parties clarify where they stand. And not just political parties, the discussion needs to include eminent civil servants, jurists, social activists and citizens at large. The arrival of the Lokpal Bill could mark a new era of citizenship. It just needs some ‘exuberant verbosity’ cut out. And replaced by facts that can build consensus.