New Delhi: The Parliament on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Lokpal Act to allow extension to public servants including MPs as well as over 50 lakh central government employees and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in filing asset declaration.
The amendment to section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, was moved in haste to elicit protests and was passed without a discussion.
The amendment, which erases the provision for fixing a deadline for assets declaration, gives reprieve to public servants, trustees and board members of NGOs receiving government funds from declaring their assets and those of their spouses by the July 31 deadline.
Earlier, a proposal to amend the provisions of the Lokpal Act had been forwarded to the Parliament's Standing Committee for its consideration, but the Lok Sabha cleared the Bill without waiting for the panel’s final report.
The amendment to Section 44 of the Act will be examined in detail by the Parliamentary Standing Committee which will submit its report before next session of Parliament, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State handling the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), who moved the Bill.
He revealed that the government had received several representations from MPs and other stakeholders. A delegation of MPs who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi the other day had also demanded the removal of the provision for fixing a deadline for assets declaration, he added.
The historic Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill was passed in 2013 during the reign of the second UPA government following country-wide anti-corruption protests spearheaded by social activist Anna Hazare.
The amendment pertaining to the Section 44 of the Lokpal Act dealing with declaration of assets by MPs, public servants and NGOs would dilute the essence and spirit of the legislation, feel activists.
Terming the move controversial, a section of MPs said that the amendment made no sense to them and it would invite sharp criticism from different quarters in the coming days.
The Bill, however, found support from the Congress benches. RSP MP N. K. Premachandran said that his party supported the bill as a constituent of the Congress-led alliance.
Congress's deputy chief whip in the Lok Sabha K. C. Venugopal said the party did not welcome the hurried manner in which the Bill was moved and passed.
“If there are flaws or shortcomings in the Act, it is the government’s responsibility to rectify them. There is no need to be apprehensive about discussions and deliberations,” he said.
“Going all out in the Lok Sabha is not a constructive idea since we are a minority there. We may adopt a different stance in the Rajya Sabha,” senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge said the party would not support any attempt to dilute the provision of the anti-corruption Act. “We are just giving another chance to discuss it further and make it more effective,” he said.