The critique of the lokpal concept seems to be two-fold..
One, its not a silver bullet - which it isnt, nothing is...Two, and more substantively, on the structural construct...
Dhiman wrote:Ahem, this suggestion sucks! You might as well create a cabal that will control LokPal selection And what about the funding aspects of LokPal, when are they funded, when is there funding increased/decreased/kept stable and by who on what quantifiable parameter. LOL, otherwise if a corrupt simple only state government clerk who goes to office at 11pm and comes back by 4pm like myself becomes in charge of LokPal funding, then rest assured I will reduce it to zero so that lokpal becomes in name only yet completely ineffective.
Two points here..On the issue of a full bench evaluating prima facie case on a complaint against the PM, it is actually an extension of the existing judicial process..Even today, for any criminal case, the court has to take cognizance of the offence, that there is a prima facie case, before the prosecution can go forward and frame charges...This is pre-empting the trial process, and getting it done at a slightly advanced level...It is required to protect the PM from frivolous complaints, especially politically motivated ones...
On the issue of funding, the point is a bit disengenuous...Funding for all instittuions finally come from two sources - Consolidated Fund of India and state govts..That includes the legislature, the judiciary, EC, CAG - all instittuions "indpeendent" of the executive...NOt sure why Lokpal's funding needs to be a "concern"...
devesh wrote:Independent" bodies might turn out to be rabid breeding grounds for anti-Indian factions like ARoy and Teesta should be studied more deeply. "independent" sounds good. but there has to be a check on their powers. and who decides what kind of people will populate this panel??? i'm sure Maino and rest can't wait to get assorted Hindu haters, and anti-Indian traitors into the panel. NAC is a prime example of this. what's to say that Lokpal won't become the same
I am afraid this line of critique is perhaps the flimsiest of all...
One, the critique that the Lopal isnt "directl elected"...Well, how many people by that logic will need to be "directly elected"? RBI guv, Election Commisioners,, CEC, CVC, Supreme Court judges - just a few in random first thoughts...About "mainowadis" (amazing how a political leader has been elevated to the level of an ideologue!) "taking over" lokpal, lets see how other such cosntitutional offices are appointed..
CVC: a selection panel comprising PM, HM and Leader of opposition
RBI guv: appointed by the Finance Minister (in fact he technically reports to the FM)
Election Commissioner: Appointed by the PM
SC judges: appointed by a collegium consisting of senior SC judges
Never heard of any of the above instittuoins being "taken over" by "islamists et al"..Given the impracticality of direct elections for every important post like this, the process suggested is as comprehensive and fool proof as it can get..The PM and Leader of opposition represent bulk of the "elected will" of the country...
KLNMurthy wrote:Your approach, and the lok pal approach, are all about creating yet another bit of machinery in the same mold as today's, which is the mold that has caused the problem in the first place. Either the mold is fine in which case the problem is bogus, or there is need for a new mold. In your approach, and that of the lok pal people, I don't see any ability to address the problem rationally, at the right level of abstraction, identifying causes, means, effects, and costs
Well not really...The biggest gain from the Lokpal initiative is from the essence of "independence" of the investigative apparatus from the executive...One good example is of the CBI...It is often maligned as the ruling party's handmaiden, sometimes correctly..At the same time, CBI has about a million times better resources to tackle corruption crimes than any police force in the country, which is why everyone (incl opposition parties) demand a CBI enquiry at the drop of every corruption hat...If the CBI is taken in under the formal tutelage of the Lokpal, suddenly the issue of "executive interference" becomes much lesser...It becomes, optically, as well as materially, "independent"...
A bit like the EC...Conducting elections is largely an administrative job...And it ws treated likewise for many decades...It was only when Seshan used a pretty obscure provision of the law to assert "independence" that the institution became what it is - a global exemplar..EC is also a perfect case of how the institution is important, not the individual..Note above how the ECs are appointed, and the appointment is only from a limited pool of ex-bureaucrats - so a distinct patron-clinet relationship in place...Further, during elections, EC simply gets officials deputed from the bureaucracy...And note how the same officials who kowtow before every mohalla politico become a terror to the seniormost leader come election time..
Lokpal isnt a panacea..But it can develop into something like the EC in the anti-corruption fight...The larger problem of course needs comprehensive reforms, which I have touched upon earlier..
Want an exact figure as to how much black money mofos have stashed away ? Let me put it this way , tell me the exact population of India; I am counting ... 
Read the entire thingie, you will pat all of us on the back 
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