Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?

Of late, there’s been a lot of brouhaha on the Lokpal – Jan-Lokpal issue. Many column inches and TV-news-hours have been devoted to it; numerous people have been eulogized, and numerous others demonized, etc. I too have my $0.02 to add to the debate, as always.

I have been tweeting about the issue. I’ve read the Jan Lokpal bill draft (Version 2.2) on the indiaagainstcorruption website. I’ll list my tweets and the points I noted while going through the draft. The appending numbers are the specific clauses in the bill on which I have something to comment, with the comments accompanying. Tweets don’t have numbers appended; they have timestamps.

First, the tweets:

• I can't feel anything but cynicism towards the Anna Hazare case; the pervasive corruption in our milieu is too huge for this act. - 6 Apr
• As always, @acorn has some excellent insights on the ongoing issue. #JanLokpalBill #GrammarOfAnarchy - 7 Apr
• So, finally, Rajkhowa too realises the futility of rising against the Indian state, says he's ready for dialogue. #GrammarOfAnarchy #ULFA - 8 Apr
• I support & respect Anna Hazare's intentions - corruption has to be weeded out. It's just that I think his method is unconstitutional. - 8 Apr
• Havells fans ads remind me of the extremely proactive 'civil society' in India. #GrammarOfAnarchy - 9 Apr
• It's really heartbreaking to see that people are so disappointed in Democracy - the way it works here in India. But, this was coming. - 10 Apr
• There is so much anger against the blatant corruption here, so much frustration. No wonder Hazare got such unprecedented a support. - 10 Apr
• The proposed Jan Lokpal bill is draconian, or naive at best. It's good that a committee is constituted to look into this matter. - 10 Apr
• The Bhushan duo have done some excellent work for the country in the past. Their inclusion in the comm. would only result in something good - 10 Apr
• Here's hoping that our society is finally exorcized of corruption. It's a tough ask, but we are up to it. - 10 Apr
• Devil's Advocate on CNN-IBN with Kejriwal clarifies a lot of points regarding the Jan Lokpal bill; nice watch. - 10 Apr
• Amongst this Jan Lokpal brouhaha, Indian Express retains its voice of logic and sanity. - 13 Apr
• It's a classic catch-22. Voting doesn't help as your vote doesn't matter; any other way to voice your dissent/opinion is unconstitutional. - 13 Apr
• Frankly, i'm a bit surprised at Open Magazine's stand on the Jan Lokpal case. Also, their articles are unnecessarily provocative. - 15 Apr
• It's interesting how no one is criticising Mulayam's antics in that Bhushan CD - shady-dealing on his part are taken for granted! - 21 Apr
• It smells of an ugly conspiracy all over, every now and then a new controversy being raised against the Bhushans - 21 Apr

Now the points I noted in the Jan Lokpal bill:

• 2 (6) ‘Government servants’ excludes Judges; 2 (11d) ‘Public servants’ includes them.
• 6 (2c) Why this age fixation?
• 6 (3) How these numbers were reached?
• 6 (4) Define ‘unimpeachable integrity’?
• 6 (10b) What ‘public feedback’? How would the majority Indians, the ‘Bharat’ if you may, provide its feedback? And this ‘Bharat’ is he who elects our leaders, due to its sheer numbers. This much for ‘democracy’.
• 6 (11) In continuation of our glorious tradition, the President is merely ceremonial.
• 7 (3e) Senior-most judges at the time of removal, junior-most/youngest for appointment?
• 12 ‘Deemed to be a police officer’? Rank?
• 12, 13 (4) The Lokpal is, therefore, Police and Judge at the same time?
• 18 (viii) What if the President rejects the Lokpal’s recommendations?
• 19A Apropos of the sheer volume of cases in our courts, and in light of the fact that there is the provision of imprisonment, can the bill envisage the chaos it may cause?
• 19B The Lokpal chairperson is above the Judges? “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes”?
• 21B Guidelines to be mabe from time to time? Does the definition of ‘integrity’ change with time? And why, after being ambiguous and vague at so many places insofar as definitions are considered (implicit subjectivity), is this allowance of explicit subjectivity?
• There is a time limit for everything, and no exception is added; what if there’s a genuine need for one?
• As Shekhar Gupta pointed out, Musharraf type ‘impeccable integrity’ references abound. This is highly subjective and vague.
• 22 (5) Suo moto transfer?
• 23 (7) Arbitrary salaries?
• 28A (8) Half of the funds shall lie with the Lokpal! [‘Lokpal Fund’ and the question of incentive for ‘extortion’ (for lack of a better word).]
• 28B Mentions an ‘ethics committee’ all of a sudden; and is incomplete.

 Corruption is indeed a huge problem in India and has to be weeded out for the society and economy to develop to its full potential. But unconstitutional means, which do no more than drumming up jingoism, for/towards the same do only disservice to the cause and the country. A bill which seeks to undermine the basic structure of the constitution - our country is a Parliamentary Democracy, a Democratic Republic, remember - must not be allowed to hold our legislature hostage. Anyone who seeks to be a part of the legislature should come through the proper channel - by fighting elections.