Saturday, July 02, 2011: CPI(M) today accused Congress of reversing its own stand of bringing the Prime Minister under Lokpal purview, saying a parliamentary panel headed by senior party leader Pranab Mukherjee had made such a recommendation in 2001. “Since the 1989 V P Singh government, three bills were brought on Lokpal. … Also in 1996 and 2001. All of them provided for placing the PM under the Lokpal. It is surprising that the UPA government is refusing to accept this”, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told a press conference here.
Maintaining that all the three bills were brought during non-Congress governments, he said a Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee “had made precisely this point” while examining the 2001 Lokpal bill that the Prime Minister should be included.
“What has changed since then? Is it because that under the UPA government, so many major scams are taking place? They will have to tell us why they had agreed to bring PM under the Lokpal purview earlier”, Karat said in response to a question.
He said Left parties “insist” that the Prime Minister should be included as after all the PM was “not immune to the Prevention of Corruption Act”.
He termed as “ridiculous” the view of a section of Congress that action against the Prime Minister can be initiated only after he or she demited office.
He, however, said there should be “adequate safeguards” regarding how the complaints against the PM should be dealt with, especially on matters concerning national security or relations with other countries.
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