Kolkata: Supporting Anna Hazare's movement
for a strong Lokpal Bill, former chief election commissioner J
M Lyngdoh on Friday advocated an independent body to handle
corruption cases and said its jurisdiction should extend to
the Prime Minister.
"We need a Anna Hazare kind of a system to handle
corruption...Everyone, including the Prime Minister, should be
brought under the jurisdiction of the anti-graft body. We need
an independent body to decide whether they have done any
wrong," he said at a panel discussion on 'Governance has lost
relevance in today's India' here.
Calling for more autonomous bodies in the government, he
said "if this is done, the government will function more
effectively. For example, if the Police Commission is allowed
to work independently, it can work much better. We need more
independent bodies like the Supreme Court and High Courts."
However, if those in such autonomous bodies were found to
be corrupt, they should be punished with a "heavy hand",
Lyngdoh said.
The former CEC advocated a system of proportional
representation to reduce the role of money in elections.
He said that under the system, voters would be asked to
choose a party instead of the candidate and it would be
represented in the body for which the elections are being held
in keeping with the percentage of votes it has got.
"If this can be done, there will be much less need for
money," he said.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, September 17, 2011, 00:26