Should the PM’s office be under the jurisdiction of the Jan Lokpal?

Dear friends across India,

On Monday, the Jan Lokpal Drafting Committee will decide if the Prime Minister is accountable under anti-corruption laws. Government Ministers will try to put his office above the law. Let's build a massive public push before the meeting, and get a totally independent system that can clean up politics at all levels.

Should the PM’s office be under the jurisdiction of the Jan Lokpal?




Clicking on 'Yes' will allow you to sign a petition that reads:

To the Jan Lokpal Drafting Committee:
We call on you to ensure that the the Prime Minister's office is under the jurisdiction of the Jan Lokpal bill, creating an effective and strong law that treats all levels of government fairly and equally.

Jan Lokpal is our best shot at cleaning up politics and fighting corruption at all levels of government. Exempting the highest political office from its reach would undermine the entire anti-corruption effort.

Click 'Yes' to sign and forward this to everyone -- we will deliver the numbers at the meeting and with hard-hitting billboards around Parliament on Monday.

Bhushan CD doctored: Chandigarh CFSL sources

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New Delhi: There are two conflicting reports on the controversial CD that allegedly features Lokpal co-Chairman Shanti Bhushan's voice saying judges can be bought for Rs 4 crore.Sources have told CNN-IBN that the The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Chandigarh has examined the CD and found the Bhushan CD was indeed 'doctored'.The Delhi CFSL lab had tested the same Bhushan CD and had said that the CD had not been tampered with but Chandigarh CFSL has found that the CD was indeed 'doctored' and tampered with.Sources in Chandigarh CFSL have said that the CD is not continuous and is a clear cut-and-paste job done by a professional.

These are the findings in the CFSL's report which was sent to Delhi Police's Special Cell on Tuesday.

Delhi Police had sent the CD to the Chandigarh Lab last month to verify if the voice on it was that of Bhushan.

The senior advocate has been maintaining his innocence and alleging that the CD was fabricated.

Anna Hazare and other anti-corruption crusaders like Justice Hegde have alleged that the controversy has been cooked up to derail the Lokpal Bill.

Now, Ramdev on 'fast track' against corruption

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New Delhi:  Yoga guru Baba Ramdev today said he would undertake a fast unto death in New Delhi on June 4 to demand recovery of black money deposited by Indians in Swiss banks, disclosure of account-holders' names, and a ban on high-denomination currency notes.
   
The satyagraha will be held at Ramlila Maidan "to force the Government to act on corruption-related issues," Ramdev told reporters here.
    
"Along with me, several supporters spread across the world will also fast during the satyagraha," he said.
    
"The Centre has not taken any concrete decision on the issue of black money. The fight against corruption will continue till it is not rooted out," he said.

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A strong Lokpal law should be enacted by August 2011, Ramdev said. The Lokpal panel should have the power to recover money swindled by the corrupt and punish them with death sentence, he said.
    
Ramdev also demanded declaration of illegal wealth held by Indians in foreign countries, ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption and ban on all high-denomination currency notes such as Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500.
    
In this 'Satyagraha against Corruption' movement, Ramdev has invited social activist Anna Hazare, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde.
    
However, Ramdev said though he appreciated efforts of eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant regarding Lokpal Bill, they had not been invited to join him.

"The fight against corruption will never be easy. Fingers will be pointed at everyone and there could be a conspiracy against those who are a part of this movement," he said, adding he will write a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issues relating to corruption.
    
Asked if he was delinking himself from Hazare's movement by announcing his own satyagraha, Ramdev said, "Annaji's agitation was on the single issue of Lokpal Bill. We have to take the agitation to the next level."
    
Ramdev, however, clarified he had no intention to enter politics. "I do not have any ambition to be a politician. I will never actively participate in politics." 

 

We knew those in power would do anything to stall and derail the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Dear friends,

Corrupt politicians have launched a vicious smear campaign against civil society members of the jan lokpal committee. Our best hope for a strong jan lokpal is to fight these dirty tactics at every turn. Call on PM Singh to expose the ministers behind the smears and kick them off the committee. We'll deliver the petition in mobile billboards around Delhi:

Last week, millions of us were shocked to read that our anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was backing down on key demands of the Jan Lokpal Bill. But the reports were false. Who spread them? A Minister on the bill drafting committee.

Now the press is full of new allegations against other civil society representatives on the Committee. We knew those in power would do anything to stall and derail the Jan Lokpal Bill. Now they have put their media-spin machine into full-swing to smear our leaders and divide the movement.

Our only hope for a strong Jan Lokpal is to stand up to every dirty tactic the politicians use to kill it. Let's raise a massive call for PM Singh to rein in the smear campaign, identify those Ministers responsible and kick them off the committee by the next meeting on May 2nd. When the petition reaches 100,000, we’ll cover Delhi with mobile billboards and follow PM Singh around until the Lokpal process is cleaned up:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/singh_stop_the_slander/?vl

Earlier this week, an anonymous Minister sent key journalists an SMS saying civil society representatives were caving to government pressure. The SMS said: “Civil Society members have Diluted their own draft a lot. It is now a far more doable draft than earlier. They have diluted the provision that Cabinet Ministers could be suspended. Judges cud be suspended. Also does not mention the Lokpal having powers of Appointing and Disciplinary Authority.” None of this was true -- the sms was a trap for the media to run a story that would sow doubt across the nation, and pull our movement apart.

Then, an audio CD was anonymously delivered to the media that allegedly records Shanti Bhushan, the civil society co-chair of the drafting committee, bribing judges to influence decisions. The Bhushans quickly proved through an independent lab that the CD was doctored, but today the government laboratory has issued a report that disagrees, claiming it needs more material for a conclusive finding.

Only an independent investigation with adequate evidence can make a judgment on the CD story. But what is already clear is that the government has used spurious sources, deception and inconclusive evidence to wage war in the media to create a storm of public confusion.

Let us have no doubt the Jan Lokpal Bill is a serious threat to high up officials and politicians who are used to the shroud of impunity. For 42 years governments have found ways to bury it, and this smear campaign is not a surprise. But this is our Bill and if we are vigilant and stick together with one voice over the next few months, we have a unique chance to truly take on corruption.

Let's tell the government that we condemn the smear tactics and are not distracted by conspiracy and doubt. Sign the petition to stop the slander and start the clean up:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/singh_stop_the_slander/?vl

“Divide and Rule” is how the British oppressed us for 200 years and that is exactly what the Government is doing now. As we come together to free ourselves from the deception and impunity that handicap our great nation, let’s demand that our political and civil society leaders act as the exemplars they should be, and start work to get a strong Jan Lokpal Bill to rid India of the scourge of corruption.

With hope and determination,

After 64 long years of Independence

After 64 long years of Independence Watch our Netas Contribution to Our Nation

INDIA INSPIRED (a must watch for every indian)

WE ALL LOVE INDIA Q-DO WE? A-YES WE DO. SAARE JAHAN SE ACHHA HINDUSTAAN HAMARA Q-DO WE HESITATE SAYING THIS? A-YES WE DO. YAHAN KA SYSTEM HI KHARAB HAIN Q-WHAT CAN WE DO? A-WE ARE THE SYSTEM. WE ALL WANT A CHANGE Q- WHY DOSENT THE GOVERMENT DO ANYTHING? A-WE ARE A DEMOCRACY,WE ARE T

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Firm on broadcast demand: Kejriwal

16 Apr 2011, 1216 hrs IST, TIMES NOW

On a day the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill held their first meeting, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal told TIMES NOW that civil society activists went into the meeting with three major things on their minds — accepting the Jan Lokpal bill as the base draft for the new legislation, videography of the proceedings and also to devise a way of effective public consultation. Kejriwal maintained that the allegations were the government's way of shifting focus from the real issue of corruption in public office. Kejriwal also called upon the government to come up with a clause-by-clause objection to their draft so that they could know "which are the points of difference and which the points of convergence. "That would then lead to a constructive dialogue. We are insisting on videography – we do not have a problem if it is telecast but that may not be possible – to ensure transparency in the proceedings of the committee," he said. Eight days after Gandhian Anna Hazare called off his fast demanding a stronger Lokpal law, the joint committee to draft the bill met in New Delhi today for the first time amid a controversy over a CD allegedly involving eminent lawyer and panel co-chairman Shanti Bhushan. The meeting chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was held at North Block and attended by Ministers P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, M Veerappa Moily and Salman Khurshid and Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan from the civil society side.

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Assets of Lokpal committe members (Civil side)

Lokpal Civil Committee Members declared their Assets why not the Ministers of UPA