New Delhi: Registering its strong views regarding the exclusion of an incumbent Prime Minister from the ambit of proposed Lokpal institution, the BJP on Thursday said treating a PM as a class apart is a violation of the Constitution.
Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, holding a joint news conference after the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, said that the BJP’s basic objection to the Bill was exclusion of the PM from the ambit of Lokpal, billed to be the integrity institution of country intending to eliminate corruption at the highest echelons of the Government.
Jaitley said the exclusion of PM from Lokpal Bill was ‘illogical’ because he can be hauled up under all other existing laws — Prevention of Corruption Act, Indian Penal Code and all other laws which treated the occupants of constitutional offices as a citizen. When a PM can be probed by local police, CBI why should he be exempted from the ambit of Lokpal and wait till he demits office? the leaders asked.
The rationale the Government is trying to offer is that ” you have to suffer a corrupt PM and punish him after he is out of office,” Jaitley said.
Jaitley said: “Ordinarily if the Prime Minister commits an offence the accountability standards for him must be higher than ordinary humans. The principle of Ceaser’s wife being beyond suspicion requires a more stringent standard for a Prime Minister.”
“A prime Minister in larger public interest may need protection only in relation to national security or public order issues,” the BJP leader said. He maintained that these areas affected India’s sovereignty and security and so decisions taken by the Prime Minister and expenditure incurred on these subjects cannot be accounted for before Lokpal. (Agencies)
