The BJP's view on the Lokpal

The BJP reiterated its demand to include the Prime Minister under the ambit of Lokpal, with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley posting a write-up on the matter on the party website. “Laws granting Prime Minister’s immunity from legal provisions have been frowned upon. Constitutional amendment which made Prime Minister’s election non-challengeable was introduced in the Emergency. It was struck down by the Supreme Court… There may be a rationale for treating these (national security or public order issues) areas as special and distinct but if a prime minister were to receive kickbacks on commercial transactions or subvert a vote of confidence through bribery, why should he be immune to the penal law? It is for this reason that both Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh have repeatedly said they have no objection to being covered by Lokpal,” Jaitley wrote. He said granting limited immunity to the Prime Minister as specified in the Lokpal Bill of 2001 brought by the NDA was in order. DMK has been in favour of the Prime Minister’s inclusion from the word “go” while Left parties too have expressed similar opinion. AGP held the same view in the all-party meeting on Sunday. Invoking the controversial 2008 vote of confidence in Parliament and the 2G spectrum scam which unfolded only after two years of protests, Jaitley argued that the ministerial draft of the Lokpal was such that both the appointment and removal of Lokpal members remained the sole prerogative of the government.