New Delhi: Press Council Chief Justice Markandey Katju on Saturday urged Parliament to refer the Lokpal Bill to a Standing Committee for further consideration so that workable corruption investigation machinery can be created.
In its present state, the Bill can create a parallel
bureaucracy that could turn into a”Frankenstein monster"
and double or triple corruption, he said in a statement.
Katju, a retired Supreme Court judged, said that whether
it was the Janlokpal Bill or the Sarkari Lokpal Bill, the
legislation envisaged overseeing the work of some 55 lakh
government employees in the country (of which 13 lacs are in
the Railways alone), from Prime Minister to peon.
"Surely one person cannot enquire into the lakhs of
complaints which are bound to pour in. It will require
thousands of Lokpals, may be 50,000 of them to do this," he
said.
He also added that all these officers will have to be
given salaries and amenities like housing, offices and staff.
"And then where is the guarantee that these will not
themselves become corrupt? In fact considering the low level
of morality prevailing in India, we can be fairly certain that
a large number of them will become blackmailers," Katju said.
Justice Katju said that implications of creating Lokpal
were not rationally thought out and "some people thought that
all problems of corruption will be solved by shouting 'Bharat
Mata Ki Jai' or 'Inquilaab Zindadbad' from Jantar Mantar or
Ram Lila Ground. He said while Anna Hazare was an honest person, his
ideas were not scientific.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 31, 2012, 17:41