Govt studying UK, Finland, Sweden laws….Swaraj Thapa
Ahead of the first meeting of the joint panel on the Lokpal Bill on Saturday, government representatives in the committee have begun an exercise to study similar legislations in other countries, particularly the UK, for inspiration.
They are taking a close look at the legal framework and provisions that govern the offices of parliamentary ombudsman in the UK, Finland, Sweden as well as the United States which have robust Lokayukta institutions acting as watchdogs in the interest of the ordinary citizen.
A senior minister confided that the exercise would take into account suggestions made through clauses in the draft Jan Lokpal Bill proposed by Anna Hazare and his group of civil society activists.
Government representatives in the joint panel chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee are likely to study the parliamentary commissioner act of the UK since we follow the Westminster model of parliamentary system. The 1967 Act provides the legal basis for the office of the parliamentary ombudsman in the UK, allowing the officeholder to investigate any action taken by or on behalf of any government department or any other authority where the act applies.
The system, however, ensures supremacy of parliament with the provision that a complaint has to be filed by any member of the public only through a member of parliament, who then forwards it to the parliamentary ombudsman. The UK system though allows exemption to various offices including that of intelligence and security establishments. Also, decisions relating to external affairs are out of the ombudsman’s purview.
The government representatives in the panel are also looking at the legislation in Finland, which has one of the most powerful laws in this regard, allowing the office of the parliamentary ombudsman to oversee legality of decisions of the government, ministers as well as the President of the republic. A two-third vote in the Finnish parliament is needed to remove their parliamentary ombudsman.
Similar laws in Sweden and the US are also being studied, sources asserted, though an official later underscored that the US did not have a single federal ombudsman agency, given that the function of handling complaints against public authorities has traditionally rested with members of the Congress.
The government representatives said they had also received several representations from a number of organisations and civil activists and that same would be put up before the joint committee when it meets on Saturday.
Though the ministry of personnel, public greivances and pension is the nodal ministry providing logistical support to the committee, the meeting will be held in Pranab Mukherjee’s North Block office. Other members of the committee include Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister Veerappa Moily, HRD minister Kapil Sibal and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid.
The civil society representatives include Anna Hazare, former Supreme court judge Santosh Hegde, former law minister Shanti Bhushan, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal.