GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

2G SCAM

2012-02-05T05:33:00.001-08:00

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Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.08..Issue.06........11/02/2012

Judgement Fixing inIndian Courts of Law / Justice

http://e-clarionofdalit.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-20T06%3A30%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=1

2G scam: Supreme Court details how Raja ignored all to help cronies

The SC order said quite clearly that then telecom minister A Raja "wantedto favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and listsseven steps he took to ensure this happened. Here are the steps as the SCsaw them:

1. After taking over as telecom minister, Raja directed that all applicationsreceived for UAS licences should be kept pending till receipt of the Trai'srecommendations

2. The recommendations made by Trai on August 28,2007, were not placed before the full Telecom Commission which would haveincluded the finance secretary. The notice of the meeting of the TelecomCommission was not given to any of the non-permanent members though Trai'srecommendations for allocation of 2G spectrum had serious financialimplications and it was therefore necessary for DoT to take the finance ministry'sopinion under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961.

3. The DoT officers who attended the Telecom Commission meeting held on October10, 2007, had no choice but to approve Trai's recommendations, since they wouldotherwise have "incurred" Raja's "wrath".

4. Since Cabinet had approved recommendations made by the Group of Ministers,the DoT had to discuss the issue of spectrum pricing with the finance ministry.But, since Raja knew that the finance secretary had objected to the allocationof 2G spectrum at rates fixed in 2001, he did not consult the finance ministeror other officials.

5. Raja brushed aside the law minister's suggestion that the matter should beplaced before the empowered group of ministers. Also, within hours of thereceipt of the suggestion made by the PM in his letter dated November 2, 2007,that keeping in view the inadequacy of spectrum, transparency and fairnessshould be maintained in allocation of the spectrum, Raja rejected it sayingthat it would be unfair, discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious to auctionspectrum to new applicants because it would not give them a level-playingfield. He also introduced a cut-off date of September 25, 2007, for consideringapplications though only the previous day a DoT press release had said October1, 2007, would be the last date. This arbitrary action of Raja "thoughappears to be innocuous was actually intended to benefit some of the realestate firms who did not have any experience in dealing with telecom servicesand who had made applications only on 24.9.2007, i.e. one day before thecut-off date fixed by the C&IT minister on his own".

6. The cut-off date of September 25, 2007, decided by Raja on November 2, 2007,was not made public till January 10, 2008, and the first-come-first-servedprinciple followed since 2003 was changed by him at the last moment through apress release dated January 10, 2008. "This enabled some of the applicants,who had access either to the minister or DoT officers, get bank drafts preparedtowards performance guarantee of about Rs 1,600 crore".

7. "The manner in which the exercise for grant of LoIs to the applicantswas conducted on 10.1.2008 leaves no room for doubt that everything was stagemanaged to favour those who were able to know in advance change in theimplementation of the first-come-first-served polcy." As a result, somefirms which had submitted applications in 2004 or 2006 were pushed down in thepriority and those who had applied between August and September 2007 succeeded.

Editorial : Honor of Indian Parliamentfor sale by few members

It is a shame that years agofour members of parliament were caught red
handed on charges of human trafficking that too misusing their
official passports. We have seen in the past various crimes by M.Ps
- questionsfor money, kickbacks , Release of money under MPLAD Scheme , etc. Inthe past we have seen vulgar behaviour of some members in the house , statelegislature , remember vulgar acts of Mr.Bora Babu Singh & vulgaracts by some MLAs against Ms.Jayalalitha .Now , it is “Cash for Vote” in trust vote & nuclear cap bill . Weordinary citizens have utmost respect for all constitutional bodies.Disrespect , contempt to constitutional bodies is being shown by some ofthe constitutional functionaries themselves , they are also making contempt ofcitizens of India.
this present sorry state
of affairs is due to the caste consciousness of the electorate. The
public instead of seeing the honesty , integrity of electoral
candidates looks just at his caste , in this trend they elect persons
who belongs to their caste even though he is dishonest , untrustworthy
& a criminal . Now , the number of criminals , density of criminals
( who are masterminds in evading conviction ) is more in elected
houses of people's representatives - parliament , state assemblies ,
panchayaths , corporations , etc than in the jails , outside public
society . HRW is ready to prove this subject to conditions , in larger
public interest. Our people's representatives must learn classroom
discipline , punctuality of attendance , home work , from little kids
of primary school.
We have won the independence by the hard way , by the innumerable
sacrifices made by great martyrs like mahatma Gandhi , Nehru , bhagath
singh , etc. The criminals who have occupied constitutional positions
don't have any right to squander that hard won independence of
Indians. The disgrace , contempt to august house of people's
representatives is brought upon itself by the corrupt people's
representatives themselves.
We at HRW , have highest regards for the institution of parliament ,
this is an appeal to the honest few in the parliament to bring to book
their corrupt colleagues & to uphold the dignity of the house . JAI
HIND. VANDE MATARAM.

Your's sincerely,
NAGARAJ.M.R.

QUESTIONS FOR MONEY- PARLIAMENTARY ACTS / LEGISLATIONS FOR ????- improper functioning of democracy in india

The vohra committee report has proved the criminalisation of politics
in india. There are many number of criminals in the parliament & state
legislatures. Some of those criminals are cabinet ministers as well as
members of vital parliamentarycommittees. Thereby, they are in a
position to manipulate , enact laws favouring , benefitting the
criminals their cronies.
Just see how the GOI gave export incentive of Rs.1800 crore to
reliance petroleum although it didn't even export a barrel. Reliance
infocom & tata teleservices were CDMA mobile service providers & have
paid license fee of few crores only equal to landline fees without any
competitive bidding . They were supposed to provide mobile service to
operate like fixed phones within a radius of 40k.m. however they were
providing service like mobile service from one state to another like
GSM mobile service providers. By this act of RIC & TTSL , the GSM
providers who have paid thousands of license fee in competitive
bidding were economically hurt , the dispute went to court. The court
was on the verge of pronouncing it's verdict awarding damages worth
Rs.18000 crore to GSM players & Rs. 3000 crore of license fees with
penalty to GOI. The government announced a unified telecom license
regime with retrospective effect. Thereby, the GOI lost thousands of
crores of rupees & the share holders of GSM players lost thousands of
crores. Onceagain the RIC was charged by PSU bsnl THAT RELIANCE IS
RE-ROUTING INTERNATIONAL CALLS AS LOCAL CALLS & SWINDLING THE GOI.
This time too, GOI bailed it out. during the dispute between ambani
brothers the younger ambani mr. Anil ambani director of reliance
himself has stated that for the favours received from the GOI , the
company gifted some shares to then IT &
COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER mr.Pramod mahajan. Various indian &
multinational companies are lootingindian exchequer to the tune of
thousands of crores of rupees , through lobbying / bribing.
In india, indirect democracyis the form of governance. In this form,
people's representatives are bound to raise the questions , issues
concerning their constituents on their behalf , on the floor of the
house. However the sad part in india even after 58 years of democracy
, is the lobbying is at it's peak. The lobbying is a gentleman's white
collared crook's way of forming favour seeker's group , creating a
corpus to pay lumpsum bribe & influencing decision making. The
people's representatives are bound to represent their people first ,
then their party & party think tanks. India has come to this sorry
state of affairs , widespread corruption , huge black economy &
rampant poverty, all due to inefficient legislations & enforcements.
These think tanks & IAS lobby, consider themselves as most super
brains on earth & gives out suggestions . the present state of affairs
is a barometer of their brilliance. These think tanks & IAS lobby are
the hand maidens of lobbyists / bribers.

Wheneverybody else does the mistake , wrong doing , indulges in corruption ,judiciary alone must be pure like virgin to punish & guide thewrong doers. Now , the apex court of the land & the highest judicialofficer of the land , the conscience keeper , protector of rights ,Constitutional guardian of the land – The Honourable Chief Justice ofIndia himself Has been found guilty . SHAME SHAME.

Nowadays , we are seeing criminalization of politics , judiciary& police. The rowdy elements have become MLAs & MPs & frequestlyindulge in fisticuffs , vulgar abuses in the precincts of the houseitself . These rowdy elements take money for asking questions in theparliament , to vote for bills & for a price pass legislations favouring lobbies of rich crooks. The police frame , torture innocents& let out rich crooks for a price . For a price police destroy evidences ,records and create fake records , evidences. Finally there arejudges who issue arrest warrants , give bail , give acquittal &pass favourable judgements ALL FOR A PRICE . SHAME SHAME . These corrupt judges , police , MPs , MLAs each take salary & perks farexceeding lakhs per annum , but serve rich crooks instead of IndianPublic. These corrupt are parasites & deadlier , state enemies thannaxalites , terrorists. Democracy in our country , our hard won nationalindependence is endangered by these parasites , corrupt judges , police& people’s representatives only. These parasites themselves areresponsible for origin & growth of naxalism / terrorism in india .

These corrupt parasiteswill feel , understand the pain only when they also suffer in the samemanner. Let us pray to almighty – In whose Court of justice MATCH FIXING is not there & every body is equal , let us pray to that godto give these corrupt parasites ghastly deaths nothing less nothing more.

Legislate LOKPAL Bill

With whole hearted respects to theparliament & all constitutional bodies , hereby we are appealing to thehonest few in public service , honest few in parliament , honest few injudiciary & honest few in police , to legally prosecute their corruptcolleagues , to legislate “ LOKPAL BILL” with fullpowers to enforce accountability of all public servants , MPs , MLAs ,Police , etc to the citizens of india.

Citizens of india are supreme in democraticrepublic of india. parliament , MPs , MLAs are creations of citizens and aresubservient , subordinate to the citizens of india. Creations cann’t be supremethan the creator.

Vohra committee has officially acknowledgedthe criminalization of politics , parliament , legislatures. The politicianscrave for power because , while in power investigating / prosecuting agencieswill be under their control / influence and they can manipulate the legalprocess , WHITE WASHING all their crimes. Just see , recently union home ministerMr.Chidambaram influencing the delhi police for closing a cheatingcase against a builder by forcing the police to file “B” report. Politiciansstoop low to such levels , to make money Ex : irregularities in purchaseof coffins meant for kargil martyrs , allotment of flats meant for warwidows , war veterans at Mumbai.

If proper accountability of public servantsis legally enacted, independence , autonomy of judiciary & police is legally enacted , then those in power cann’t WHITE WASH their own crimes. Thatis the reason many political parties are opposing “LOKPAL BILL” since decadesunder many pretexts.

Subject to conditions , I do offer myservices to the government of india & supreme court of india , to legallyapprehend CRIMINALS , CORRUPT PUBLIC SERVANTS , ARE YOU READY ?

A B C D of Democracy – A Lesson for all people’s representatives

HOW MPs ,MLAs ,Ministers - PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVES MUSTFUNCTION

Peopleare the kings , self rulers in a democracy . Peoples representatives must justrepresent the wishes , aspirations of people. Example :PEOPLE are nothing but land owners , MPs , MLAs , people’srepresentatives are just GPA Holders. The Electorate – Citizens of Indiaare SUPREME than Parliament , Ministers and all Other Institutions.When people in Jaitapur , Maharashtra state of India and Peopleof Koodankulam , Tamilnadu are totally against a nuke plant in theirarea and they don’t want it , still the authorities are forcing this project over their head.

Since 63years of independence , In India the learned IAS babus & Netasare forcing their agendas , SEZs , Projects over the people for their ownselfish gains , against the wishes of people. This is not DEMOCRACY.

In india,indirect democracy is the form of governance. In this form, people's representativesare bound to raise the questions , issues concerning their constituents ontheir behalf , on the floor of the house. However the sad partin india even after 63 years of democracy , isthe lobbying is at it's peak. The lobbying is a gentleman's white collaredcrook's way of forming favour seeker's group , creating a corpus to pay lumpsumbribe & influencing decision making.

The people's representatives are bound to represent their people first , thentheir party & party think tanks. India has come to this sorrystate of affairs , widespread corruption , huge black economy & rampantpoverty, all due to inefficient legislations & enforcements.

These think tanks & IAS lobby, consider themselves as most super brains onearth & gives out suggestions . the present state of affairs is a barometerof their brilliance. Take just one case for the brilliance of ourcabinet ministers & IAS babus , In India nearly 50 crore peopleare barely surviving on a single piece meal per day , hundreds of people aredying due to HUNGER & MALNUTRITION at one end at the other endthousands of tonnes of food grains are rotting away , wasted in FCIGodowns (ie the food procured by the government) , what brilliantministers & IAS officers ? These think tanks & IAS lobby are the handmaidens of lobbyists / bribers.

Now consider the following example :
Mr.raj gandhi is a member of parliament from mandya constituency in karnatakastate. He is a MBA graduate & member of ruling Indian progressive party.The multinational giant M/S GREY HOUND CORPORATION wants to enter into papermanufacturing business in india. It's sight falls on the public sectorpaper giant mandya national paper mills (MNPM) in mandya district of karnataka.The MNC effectively lobbies with the government. The ruling party think tank& the cabinet advisory group recommends to the government to make strategic
disinvestment in the PSU M/S MNPM. They bring out graph with full power pointpresentation stating that it is good for the company as well as the government.The lobbyists follows it up with media reports on the positive aspect ofstrategic disinvestment. A favourable impression is created in the minds ofliterate public. The cabinet
committee okays it.

The " strategic dis investment issue " comes before the parliamentfor legislation / approval. The ruling party issues a party whip to it'smembers to vote in favour of dis investment. However M.P mr.raj gandhi who isan MBA in his own wisdom also favours the dis investment. However ,mostimportantly the constituents – people in mandya parliamentary constituency through protest marches ,mass post card campaigns lakhs in numbers expresses their disagreement with thedis investment & urges their MP mr.gandhi to vote against the disinvestmentlegislation.

On the D-day in parliament , mr. Raj gandhi as per his party whip & his ownwisdom votes in favour of strategic disinvestment legislation, much against thewishes of his people , constituents & mis represents them in parliament.the democracy has failed here. in This way democracy is being derailed since 62years in india.

In democracy, party whip , MP or MLA's own wisdom / brilliance, think tank& IAS lobby recommendations are all secondary , the constituent's of hisconstituency , people's wishes aspirations are of primary importance &supreme. What people need is a honest
representative, who simply delivers the people's aspirations on the floor of thehouse back & forth , without superimposing it with his own ideas &party ideas. For true democracy , the people's representatives must be truepostmans.

Towards this end , the people must be educated about their democratic rights& responsibilities. This is an appeal to the honest few in the parliament& state legislatures to weed out their corrupt colleagues , lobbyists, touphold the dignity of the house & to install democracy in it's true form.Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your’s Sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.

FUNDAMENTALRIGHTS OF CITIZENS Vs PRIVILEGES OF CONSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONARIES IN INDIA

Let the Legislators of states, members of parliament, High courts & SupremeCourt Judges & other constitutional functionaries answer the followingquestions which are vital in a democracy.

1) What are the fundamental rights of a citizen guaranteed under theconstitution (Article 21) ?

2) What are the privileges conferred on legislators & parliamentarians bythe constitution of India?

a) Inside the House b) Outside the House

3) What are privileges conferred on constitutional functionaries, like

a) President of India b) Prime Minister of India

c) Chief Justice of India d) Chairman of NHRC

e) Central Vigilance Commissioners.

4) Are the privileges legal immunity conferred on above mentionedconstitutional functionaries ?

a) Cover all their official actions irrespective of merit.

b) Cover both their official & personal actions.

5) Are the privileges defined & codified ?

6) Are these privileges above freedom of the press ?

7) Are the liberty & fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed by theconstitution, above the privileges of the constitutional functionaries or equalor below ?

8) Can the Indian legislatures & parliament be equated to the House of commonsin England which is considered to be a superior court and court of records ?

9) Can the division of powers, namely the legislature, the executive and theJudiciary, be equated to the functioning of the House of commons and House ofLords in England ?

10) Can a citizen be said to have committed breach of privilege of the House orcourt and causing contempt of the house or court by raising the issues ofaccountability of constitutional functionaries ?

11) Can a Legislature or Parliament enact a new law, to circumvent or tonullify the Judicial orders with respect to wrongdoings by peoplesrepresentatives & executive ? does not it amount to infringement ofJudicial powers & contempt of the court by the House.

12) Are the FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES of a citizen more important than constitutionalduties of a constitutional functionary or equal in importance to it ?

13) Can a constitutional functionary commit crimes, anti-national activities inthe name of constitutional duties, behind the legal veil of official's secretact & go unaccountable for his actions and go unpunished by his legalimmunity privileges ?

14) Are the Legislators members of parliament, High court & Supreme courtJudges and other constitutional functionaries not willing to codify their privilegesfor the reason that if codified their privileges would be curtailed and theiraction would be subjected to legal scrutiny. ?

15) By votes of citizens Legislators and parliamentarians get seats in thelegislature and Parliament out of tax payer's money, they get their pay, perks& lead 5-Star luxurious lifestyles. Hence whether a vote of a citizen isabove (More valid) or a seat of legislator or parliamentarian is above or morevalid in a democracy ?

16) Judges & Constitutional functionaries are indirectly appointed byvoters / tax payers. Out of tax payers money, they get their pay, perks &lead 5-star luxurious lifestyles. Hence, whether the vote of a citizen,fundamental duties of a tax payer is above (more valid) or a seat of judge /constitutional functionary is above (more
valid) in a democracy ?

17) If there is a vacuum in the Legislature or parliament, who is to fill upthat vacuum till such time that the legislature or parliament acts provide asolution by performing its role by enacting proper legislation to cover thefield (vacuum) ?

18) While it is an unhealthy practice for a Judge to claim to be a Judge in hisown cause, is it not worse for the members of the legislature and parliament tobe judges in their own cause ?

19) Are the Technicalities of the case more important to a judge or Justice toa citizen, protection of fundamental rights of citizen.?

20) Why not the constitutional functionaries initiate suo moto action withrespect to numerous cases of injustices reported in Media ?

21) Why not the Judges admit various cases of Injustices affecting public, asthe Public Interest Litigation" ? In some cases, the Public or the personrepresenting them is unable to afford the high cost of the case. Why not freelegal aid is given ?.

22) What is the criteria for admitting a P.I.L. & giving free legal aid ?

23) Communication - free flow of information is the lifeline of a democracy.Why the constitutional functionaries are not honouring the Right to Informationof Citizens ?

JANLOKPAL BILL - Need for Accountability of VVIPS

Whiledrafting our constitution of india , drafting members -freedom fighters themselves assumed that in future also thepersons who will occupy constituional positions will be sincere & of high impeccable integrity. However they were proved wrong. LatePrime Minister of Great Britain Mr.Winston Churchill has been proved right.

"Powerwill go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaderswill be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and sillyhearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost inpolitical squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed."Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before theindependence of India & Pakistan.

Nowadays , criminals have entered into public service , working as police ,magistrates , etc. Criminals have become MPs , MLAs and are also working asCabinet Ministers . Criminals have become judges , some of themhave become supreme court judges.

Endresult CRIMINALS POLICING THE OTHER CRIMINALS ,CRIMINALS DRAFTING LAWS , CRIMINALS JUDGING OTHERS.

Even thereare cases of irregularities , illegalit
ies by Prime Minister of India and Irregularities , illegalitiescommitted by supreme court of india judges . Example : JMM MPs bribery case , CWG Scam , 2G Scam , Bofors Scandal , etc and Bhopal Gas Tragedy Judgement fixing by then chief justice of indiaby way of alteration of charges , financial irregularities ,illegal dealings by supreme court judges , etc.

In this backdrop ,continuing with legal immunity to Prime minister of india , supreme courtjudges or any constitutional persons is nothing but blanket clearance tothose VVIPs to commit more crimes , more anti-national acts wthoutthe fear of Law or Legal Prosecution. THIS LEGAL IMMUNITY IS & WILL BE AGAINST THE BASIC CONSTITUTIONAL LETTER & SPIRIT OF EQUALITY & EQUITABLE JUSTICE.

Are not someof the cabinet minsiters , so called constitutional experts , great advocates aware of this fundamental violation ofconstitution of india. Ofcourse , these advocates rightly fight for ,take the cases of poor , commonman , they usually take cases of MNCs , Big timecriminals , etc. Let these constitutional experts show us asingle government hospital without corruption . Let the light of our constitution shine on our learnedfriends in the parliament belonging to all political parties. Corruptionis there in every political party , in the same way there are very fewhonest persons in all political parties , judiciary , police & publicservice. Why you are afraid of accountability to people , while youare enjoying 5-star luxurious lifestyles at tax payer’s expense ?

If you are so sincere READ ARTICLES / CASE at following web pages &ANSWER :

Judgements for SALE in India

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/e-clarion-of-dalit/WOBn8eJjBUA

Cross Examinationof Loksabha Speaker & RajyaSabha Dy Chairman

http://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/cross-examination-of-loksabha-speaker-and-rajyasabha-dy-chairman

ParliamentaryPrivilege or Cover-up of Crimes

http://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/parliamentary-privilege-or-coverage-of-crimes

Threats to RTIApplicant & Judgement Fixing

http://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/threats-to-rti-applicant-judgement-fixing

Honour of IndianParliament for SALE

http://e-voiceofhumanrightswatch.blogspot.com/2007/05/honour-of-indian-parliament-for-sale.html

XeroxingCorruption

By Ashutosh Sinha
Special to India Resource Center
September 30, 2002

Not many in Indiamight have actually seen the field gun from Bofors AB, either standing sentinelon the borders or in operation. The guns played a key role in the skirmishes atKargil in 1999. The same anonymity does not hold good for Xerox, which has nowentered the dictionary as a verb in its own right for photocopying documents.

Since its name hasbecome synonymous with the allegations of kickbacks, few companies would liketo be compared with Bofors. But since the deal was a big commercial success forarms dealers, some companies would, perhaps, be tempted to employ the sametactics as the Bofors middlemen.

The Swedish firmBofors AB allegedly paid Rs.640 million ($13 million) in bribes to middlemen toget the contracts for the deal signed in 1986. Nearly a decade later, EnronIndia spent US$ 20 million in "educating" Indian bureaucrats aboutthe role of private companies in power generation, an euphemism for bribes. Twotelecom companies, Essar and Swisscom, were alleged to have paid a formerminister, Sukh Ram, a hefty amount during early 1996 to help change theoriginal license conditions, which it had signed with the Department ofTelecommunications. There was no case against Sukh Ram, simply because thisdeal was never investigated.

Significantly, noneof the allegations made above have yet been proven in a court of law.

Xerox India wastreading on familiar path, something which its US headquarters got to knowlater. According to the parent company's own admission, which emerged duringits audit, it paid over $600,000 as bribes to various government employees towin contracts. In essence, the modus operandi was just a 'photocopy' of the waysome other companies operate.

Under the ForeignCorrupt Practices Act (FCPA), it is a serious criminal offence for a US companyto pay bribes in a foreign country to obtain contracts. Being managed by the BKModi group, one of Indias oldest family run business empires, at the time whenthe bribes were paid, it is now like a sword hanging at the neck of Xerox. TheBK Modi group has denied having paid any bribes. Xerox Modicorp Limited (as thecompany is now called) completes 19 years in India this September. It changedits name from Modi Xerox Limited to Xerox Modicorp Limited in 2000.

The Indiangovernment was quick to order an inquiry. A promise that accompanied the orderwas that the inquiry would be completed in two weeks. Over a month later, thetwo weeks are not yet over. Now, the million-dollar question - for a companythat calls itself 'The Document Company' - is there enough documentary evidenceto prosecute the company?

The Department ofCompany Affairs (DCA), the arm of the government that wields the stick toensure that companies meet their stated objectives and do not dupe the shareholders,is looking into the details. Xerox was not duping shareholders, much the sameway as the military hardware company AB Bofors. Both were, in fact, trying toreward their shareholders by giving the extra edge to their sales team by"taking care" of those taking a final decision on the purchase oftheir products. DCA is still not sure whether the bribes were actually paid orif the amount was pocketed by Modi or his men.

There is a starkdifference between the two cases, though. Bofors is a European company, Xeroxan American. Their products are proverbially as different as chalk and cheese -one sold military hardware, the other office automation products. While the Boforspayoffs involved the government official right at the top in the government,the Xerox payoffs appear to have been made to the operations level people ingovernment. Besides, the nature of arms deals is such that the best deal has tobe sewn in one shot. Office automation products are regularly purchased bycompanies and governments. So, if a few people can be identified, their palmscan be greased regularly to put the product. The agents who helped Bofors arestill trying to block investigations and any information into their moneylaundering. The amount involved in the Xerox case is far smaller.

Xerox, however,does deserve a pat on the back for having the courage to admit the payoffs inpublic.

There are someparallels between the two companies. Bofors money found its way to exoticplaces that you would find difficult to locate on the world map - Luxembourg, Bahamas,Liechtenstein, Channel Islands. The Xerox India payoffs did not have such exoticaddresses. Two of the companies to which payments were made had slum areas ofDelhi as their addresses while two others were located in the western Indianstate of Gujarat.

While the Boforsdeal had strong political linkages, there is talk of the involvement of aSamajwadi Party politician, who has interests in the paper business, in theXerox case. That allegation is yet to be probed, though.

AE Services,Svenska, Lotus, Tulip and Mont Blanc are some of the names of bank accountsthat are associated with the alleged Bofors payoffs. The money has gone into avariety of accounts before disappearing various pockets. Officials of theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's premier investigating agency,suspect that these people include the late Win Chadha, an Italian calledOttavio Quattrochchi and the Hinduja brothers. If the Xerox India deal had beenbigger, with international ramifications, it would not have chosen names likeCharu Paper Ltd., Chadha Paper Ltd., Pioneer Enterprises and Elite CommercialServices.

At the time whenthese bribes were paid, the company was controlled by the BK Modi group, whichowned majority shares in the joint venture. When Xerox acquired control of thecompany (it now owns 68 per cent while BK Modi controls 28 per cent in thejoint venture) in 2000, it ordered an inspection of the books by the audit firmPriceWaterhouseCoopers, which raised disturbing questions. The audit firm saidthat it was not sure the organizations existed and, if they did, who owns orcontrols them. BK Modi Group has interests in telecom, entertainment andmanufacturing.

Xerox has over 50per cent market share in photocopiers in India. 1998 was a landmark year forthe photocopier industry. Of the estimated 40,000 machines sold that year, anestimated 27,000 were Xerox machines. However, that was an aberration andnearly 30,000 machines are sold in the market each year at present. Nearly 60per cent of the sales are made to government organisations.

Incidentally, thebribes are alleged to have been paid in 1998 and 1999. In 1998, the 15-yeartie-up between Modis and Xerox ended. Xerox had entered India after a tie up withthe BK Modi Group and Modi Xerox Limited was incorporated in 1983.

The JointParliamentary Committee (JPC), which had looked into the Bofors deal before CBIstarted its investigations of bribery charges, had similarly not given a cleanchit to the Rajiv Gandhi government. The government survived the day but sincethen, the Congress party has never won a majority in the Indian Parliament.Bofors has also entered India's political lexicon as a synonym for bribery.

DCA officials aretight-lipped about the direction in which their Xerox investigation ismeandering. These are just four names that have tumbled out of the closet.Reports suggest that it is a web of 85 companies through which payments havebeen made. The challenge before DCA is to verify whether payments were made toindividuals in the government or did some officials of Modi Xerox (as thecompany was then called) pocket the money.

While it is stillto be established where the money actually went, DCA officials admit in privatethat siphoning money out of the company is a routine affair. Just like everyofficial worth his salt in the CBI knows that big arms deals do have an elementof an underhand deal.

Since payoffs arenow a part of business, this is where the interest of the average person comesin. Hapless investors have seen scores of cases where the companies get sickand promoters healthier by the day.

For all the armsdeal that have happened in India, whose defence spending is over US$ 14 billionevery year, only one case has been brought to light. None have been prosecuted.Of nearly 7,000 publicly listed companies in India, a little over 2,000actively trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The rest are companies which haveturned sick, while some of their promoters get healthier.

Radia lobbied toget Raja telecom ministry

UnionCommunications Minister A. Raja has been caught on tape lobbying with a corporatePR agent for a place in the Manmohan Singh cabinet during the second term ofthe UPA.

Headlines Today is in exclusive possession of taped conversationsbetween Raja and powerful corporate lobbyist Nira Radia just days before theswearing-in of the cabinet.

The conversations, which were recorded by investigators for the income taxdepartment, raise serious issues about ministerial propriety.

The income tax sleuths had sought permission to tap the telephone of Radia, whowas being investigated by the CBI and the income tax department in the telecomspectrum scam.

Radia is one of India's most influential power-brokers and has the biggestcorporates of India as clients.

These conversations were recorded over 300 days, starting from August 20, 2008.Raja was lobbying hard to become the next telecom minister and was being helpedin this endeavour by Radia.

Here are excerpts from a conversation recorded on May 24, 2009 at 11.05am.

Raja: My name is cleared?
Radia: Yeah, your case was cleared last night itself. No, what is happeningwith Daya?
Raja: Textiles or fertilisers?
Radia: Not for Daya though, Azhagiri or Daya only one can come in?
Raja: No, two can come...
Radia: Both?
Radia: Baalu, will be the problem, I hope.
Radia: It will be difficult for the leader to justify three family members.
Raja: (laughs) Yeah, but everybody knows...
Radia: No she said that, Kani told me last night, that is what her father toldher yesterday, that for him to justify three family members would be verydifficult; he recognises that problem...
Raja: Let us see what we can do...let us fight.

This was how Radia informed Raja that his name had been cleared for the telecomminister's post. The conversation had been recorded just four days beforeRaja's name was officially announced as the UPA's telecom minister.

So how does a corporate lobbyist get to know who is getting which portfolio?And why was Raja discussing portfolios with a corporate lobbyist?

Not just Raja, the tapes have Radia talking to DMK chief M. Karunanidhi'sdaughter Kanimozhi as well.

In these conversations, Kanimozhi - referred to as Kani - is heard tellingRadia that the DMK must get the telecom portfolio. Here are excerpts from theconversation recorded on May 21, 2009 at 8:41 pm.

Kani: Hello
Radia: PM has already clarified that the deal has not been done. They are stillin the middle of discussing it.
Kani: They've already promised to give us telecom...but it cannot become thatthey shift...
Radia: What?
Kani: They have already told us that they will give us telecom. Now itshouldn't be given to him because he's going around planting stories.
Radia: He's planting it on all the channels while you were on the plane.
Kani: Ya I know that.
Radia: But Kanni, the PM has just made a statement that I have no problems withRaja and Baalu and they are my esteemed colleagues.
Kani: He can make a statement. But whoever's going to come and talk to dadshouldn't talk otherwise.. See what people say outside and what actually theymean is different... And all of us know that in politics.

Not just telecom, Radia and Kanimozhi had a long conversation about who isgetting what portfolio. What was surprising is that Radia seemed to knowexactly what is happening and who was getting which portfolio.

Here are more excerpts from the conversations:

Radia: Kani there's feedback from the Congress. They say we recognise that theproblem with the DMK is an internal problem. It's a problem between the family.It's a problem between their own people. They have given us a list of fivepeople. This is not acceptable to us.
Kani: Ya
Radia: It is for them to resolve. We have told them what is the best that wecan do.
Kani: Three and four...
Radia: We appreciate that the dialogue has broken down but it is not for us toget back to them. As far as we are concerned, Maran has been calling GhulamNabi Azad on the half hour demanding all sorts of things and they have told himthat there is no point in you calling us.
Kani: But what is the demand he's got.
Radia: He has been making the same demands that you give us five portfolios orwe will not join or give us railways, otherwise he has also demanded coal andmines. So they are saying as far as we are concerned this is an internal DMKproblem. It has nothing to do with the Congress at all. They have taken adecision that it is for Karuna to decide who he wants and who he doesn't wantin the formula. That has been provided to him. It's up to Karuna to decide butthey feel that there are far too many people calling him including Maran.

The question is, is it proper for a senior leader of the DMK and a minister inthe past UPA government to be talking to a known corporate lobbyist? Why is itthat the lobbyist seems to know everything about the allocation of portfolios,and long before the information is made public?

REALSTORY OF Late DHIRUBHAI AMBANI of Reliance Industries

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3924530/Polyester-PrinceThe-Real-Story-of-Dhirubhai-AmbaniBanned-in-India

AnotherMajor Scam : Govt. Favours Reliance In KG Basin

The CAG draft report thatnails the connivance between Government agencies and Reliance Industries Ltd.leading to huge losses to the Government exchequer is yet another example ofthe power of corporates in the UPA Government to subvert rules and regulationsin their favour.

TheCAG has noted that the former Director-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) permittedReliance to inflate its “development costs” on the gas extraction in the D6block of KG basin from 2.47 billion dollars to a whopping 8.84 billion dollars.This money taken by RIL affected the revenues of the Government. Governmentshould prosecute the former DGH without any delay.

TheGovernment’s connivance with RIL has a direct impact on the aam aadmi becauseincreased claims of development cost get reflected in the price of gas given toconsumers and also affect the prices of fertilizer and power. Lettershave been written to the Prime Minister to institute an independent enquiryinto the complaint of artificial jacking up of the capital expenditure by RILfor D6 KG Basin and its hasty approval by the concerned authority to find outthe actual cost before gas price is fixed.

Ina repeat of the 2-G scam, the Prime Minister’s silence on the issue, hasagain exposed the UPA Government’s acquiescence to corporate manipulation.

RELIANCEINDUSTRIES LIMITED - WHERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY?

Dear mukesh & anil ambani,

The reliance industries has always got a favourable treatment from the state& central governments.there are allegations that ,
1.years ago, the central government gave import concessions for import of certainraw materials of textile sector ,which hugely benefitted the P.F.Y &TEXTILE projects of your's ie reliance industries.
2.the O.N.G.C which has painstakingly surveyed the oil & gas reserves &prepared a list of lists,gave that list & you got godavari basin oil &gas project from the government .O.N.G.C could have developed it & earnedmillions.
3.few months back you were charged both by the government & cellular operators(GSM) that you are giving S.T.D & ROAMING FACILITIES to your reliance phonesubscribers.your's was only a W.L.L. they even claimed that you are misusing alegal loophole & causing crores of losses to the government & other GSMoperators. however while the issue was before the T.R.A.I, the trai legalizedyour actions by announcing unified licence for telecom operators.
4.now you are charged by the government of re-routing ISD CALLS as localcalls,thereby causing crores of losses to the government & BSNL.this timealso you may get the reprieve from the government. the government ,if acommonman does not pay his electric bills in time slaps interest & cutsdown the electric supply immediately.
however the same government ,even if your company has been alleged of causingcrores of rupees losses to the government & other players, always enacts favourablelaws for you like a SANTA CLAUS.
WILL YOU PLEASE CLARIFY mr.mukesh ambani & mr.anil ambani?
the TRAI announced unified licence regime in haste that too with retrospectiveeffects.so all the charges against reliance were dropped. in the same vein asunified licence got retrospective effect , why not the government re-imbursethe differece amount out of hefty fees collected from other cellular operators? take the reliance fees as bench mark.anyway , finally commonman is thelooser.

Judgement Fixing inIndian Courts of Law / Justice

http://e-clarionofdalit.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-20T06%3A30%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=1

SHAME SHAME to Corrupt Judges ,Corrupt Police & Corrupt Public Servants - Indian Judicial /Legal System For Sale

The Corrupt Among Public Servants are making futile , all the sacrifices madeby our forefathers , freedom fighters in securing independence from britishoccupiers .

Threat to India’s Independence , Freedom , National Unity & Integrityis from Corrupt Police , Corrupt Judges & Corrupt Public Servants.SHAME to those corrupt   police , judges & public servants.

Recently we have seen media reports about 2G spetrum scam , land mafia ,mining mafia , how a law maker of the land Home Minister of Gujarathstate government himself was the master mind involved in the conspiracyof fake encounter eliminating sohrabuddin . We have also seen how seniorpolice officers extorted money from businessmen & others by foistingfalse cases .

We have also seen media reports about the ROWDY BEHAVIOUR of some people’srepresentatives in legislative assemblies & parliament in the past& recently. The members of the house , people’s representatives themselvesare making contempt of the house. These MPs , MLAs other then hiking their ownsalaries & perks , must first learn class room discipline punctuality ,attendance , home work preparation , etc from PRIMARY SCHOOL KIDS . IT IS THEURGENT NEED OF THE HOUR .

We have also stated with relevant media reports how match fixing is done in ourIndian Legal System from the stage of FIR filing , planting witneses ,silencing witnesses , judgement fixing , torture in jail , etc . readarticles at following websites

http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/shame-shame---indian-legal-system-for-sale ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/cross-exam-of-chief-justice-of-india ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/deal-deal-mega-deals-in-supreme-court-of-india ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/bhopal-gas-verdict-fixed-years-earlier ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/shame-shame-to-supreme-court-of-india ,

http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/is-the-supreme-court-of-india-deaf-dumb-blind ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/show-cause-notice-to-chief-justice-of-india ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/narco-analysis-polygraph---right-or-wrong ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/match-fixing-in-cricket-ipl-police-judiciary-government-in-india ,
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/writ-of-mandamus-to-cji-others ,

http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/aeroplane-rides-for-corrupt-police-corrupt-judges ,

When everybody else does the mistake , wrong doing , indulges incorruption , judiciary alone must be pure like virgin to punish& guide the wrong doers. Now , the apex court of the land & thehighest judicial officer of the land , the conscience keeper , protectorof rights , Constitutional guardian of the land – The Honourable ChiefJustice of India himself Has been found guilty .  SHAME SHAME.

Nowadays , we are seeing criminalization of politics , judiciary& police. The rowdy elements have become MLAs & MPs & frequestlyindulge in fisticuffs , vulgar abuses in the precincts of the houseitself . These rowdy elements take money for asking questions in theparliament , to vote for bills & for a price pass legislations favouring lobbies of rich crooks. The police frame , torture innocents& let out rich crooks for a price . For a price police destroy evidences ,records and create fake records , evidences. Finally there arejudges who issue arrest warrants , give bail , give acquittal &pass favourable judgements   ALL FOR A PRICE . SHAME SHAME . Thesecorrupt judges , police , MPs , MLAs each take salary &perks far exceeding lakhs per annum , but serve rich crooks insteadof   Indian Public. These corrupt are parasites & deadlier ,state enemies than naxalites , terrorists. Democracy in our country , ourhard won national independence is endangered by these parasites ,corrupt judges , police & people’s representatives only. These parasites themselves are responsible for origin & growth of naxalism / terrorism in india .

Edited, printed , published owned by NAGARAJA.M.R. @ #LIG-2 / 761,HUDCO FIRST STAGE ,OPP WATER WORKS , LAXMIKANTANAGAR , HEBBAL ,MYSORE - 570017INDIA… cell :09341820313

home page : home page : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naghrw , http://groups.google.co.in/group/hrwepaper / , http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice / , http://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com / , http://indiapolicelaw.blogspot.com / , http://naghrw.tripod.com/evoice/ ,

http://e-voiceofhumanrightswatch.blogspot.com ,

Contact : naghrw@yahoo.com ,nagarajhrw@hotmail.com

Enact JANLOKPAL

2012-01-31T02:09:00.001-08:00

S.O.S e - Voice For Justice - e-news weekly
Spreading the light of humanity & freedom

Editor:Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.08..Issue.05........04/02/2012

Editorial : Enact JANLOKPAL - An Appeal to Honourable Prime Minister of India , GOI
We have suffered enough due to corruption. We are deeply hurt anddisappointed with any lack of a real and meaningful solution from you and yourgovernment. The Parliament session meantfor passing Lokpal Bill was wasted by Unparliamentary behaviour ofsome MPs.

We want change, andwe want accountability and we cannot wait any longer to have this! We will notvote for you if an effective anti-corruption bill is not enacted. Not the farceLokpal Bill proposed by your government, but the peoples “Jan Lokpal Bill”which is more stringent than the ones proposed by GOI & Team Anna. We want strict andeffective punishment for the corrupt. They MUST go to jail! Or you Mr. PM, alongwith your party, will fall from the people’s grace. We assure you, stand by us,and we will stand by you. The opposite will also hold true.

Your government hasappointed a GoM to draft the Lokpal Bill. This GoM includes -
Sharad Pawar,VeerapaMoily and Kapil Sibal. Mr. Pawar and Mr. Moily have a past of allegations of corruption and mis-deeds that the entire country is aware of. Mr. Sibal does not feel there wascorruption in the 2G scam. Having these people draft the anti-corruption law –is it not an insult to the people of India? How can the corrupt be asked todraft an anti-corruption bill? We urge you to consider the choice put forth bythe people – credible names such as Justice Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan,Shanti Bushan and others, to be part of the committee to draft the Lokpal Bill.Just look at the draft proposed by GOI , it has left out many public servants and tax evading corporate , industrialists (who are the origin & source of black money corruption) from lokpal ambit , only good thing is NGOsare included.

Shri Anna Hazare, oneof the Greatest Social Reformers India has ever seen has demanded for a Lokpalwhich has the power to investigate &prosecute all public servants from peon to Supreme CourtJudges , president of india. We urge you to immediately accept the demands ofthe people of India represented by the demands of Shri Anna Hazare lest thediscontent among the people grows out of control.

The sentimentsagainst rampant corruption in this country are quickly becoming as strong asthose that led to the uprising in Tahrir Square. The honest and hardworkingpeople of this country refuse to be innocent bystanders in the wholesale publiclooting that is taking place as you read this letter. We request your immediateand strong response to this concern of the people as corruption should be thetop priority of your government. If the challenge is not met effectively andpromptly, it has the potential of undermining every valuable effort made byupright citizens of this country over the last century - including you. It alsohas the potential of leaving your government with a legacy of shame.

Tahrir square can yet be a reality in India.

We trust you willtake immediate steps to give us oursolution, and not force us to take the above steps! Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your’ssincerely, NAGARAJA.M.R. Citizen of India

Jan Lokpal Bill

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsmanBill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil societyactivists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body thatwould investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a yearand envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year.
Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (formerSupreme Court Judge and former Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan(Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Billenvisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail withintwo years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth beingconfiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians andbureaucrats without government permission.
Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other known peoplelike Swami Agnivesh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai arealso part of the movement, called India Against Corruption. Its websitedescribes the movement as "an expression of collective anger of people ofIndia against corruption. We have all come together toforce/request/persuade/pressurize the Government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill.We feel that if this Bill were enacted it would create an effective deterrenceagainst corruption."
Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusader, wenton a fast-unto-death in April, demanding that this Bill, drafted by the civilsociety, be adopted. Four days into his fast, the government agreed to set up ajoint committee with an equal number of members from the government and civilsociety side to draft the Lokpal Bill together. The two sides met several timesbut could not agree on fundamental elements like including the PM under thepurview of the Lokpal. Eventually, both sides drafted their own version of theBill.
The government has introduced its version inParliament in this session. Team Anna is up in arms and calls the governmentversion the "Joke Pal Bill." Anna Hazare declared that he would beginanother fast in Delhi on August 16. Hours before he was to begin his hungerstrike, the Delhi Police detained and later arrested him. There are widespreadprotests all over the country against hisarrest.
The website of the India Against Corruptionmovement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an "eyewash" and hason it a critique of that government Bill.

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:
1. An institution called LOKPAL at thecentre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up
2. Like Supreme Court and ElectionCommission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No ministeror bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.
3. Cases against corrupt people will notlinger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to becompleted in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that thecorrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.
4. The loss that a corrupt person caused tothe government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
5. How will it help a common citizen: If anywork of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office,Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given ascompensation to the complainant.
6. So, you could approach Lokpal if yourration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is notregistering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time.Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report anycase of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roadsbeen constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have tocomplete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year andthe guilty will go to jail within two years.
7. But won't the government appoint corruptand weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its memberswill be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not bypoliticians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.
8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomescorrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completelytransparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigatedand the officer dismissed within two months.
9. What will happen to existinganti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruptionbranch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers andmachinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge orpolitician.
10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal toprovide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voiceagainst corruption.

Occupy and its Indian sister movement are fighting the same battles

By DrKailash Chand OBE

From Greece to London; from Spain to Syria;from the occupiers in Zuccotti Park to the milling crowds at Ramlilaground - the forms are different but the anger and frustration of thepeople with the state of affairs is the same.
Be it the denial of human rights or economicdeprivation, be it a clean system of governance or lack of transparency, be itprice rise or corruption, the anger of the people isdirected against those responsible for the manifold multiplication of theirproblems. It may be prematureto draw parallels but only the naïve would miss the common thread runningthrough such movements across the globe.

Analysts, many of whom represent the interests of the establishment are busydishing out local, regional and social explanations for this world wide unrestbecause they would not likes to challenge the system that has benefitted themso long.
Sooner or later the world has to recognize that at the root of thisunrest lies in the unviable economic system, concentration of power and wealthin a few hands and the unabashed corporate greed.
One cannot treat a malady without findingthe bug that causes the ailment. People in the more advanced western democracieshave been closer to the diagnosis while in countries like India we arestriking at the symptoms of the disease.
While the slogans in the west are “one percent versus 99 per cent”, “fight the rich, not their wars” and “human need, notcorporate greed” the ire in India is directed against the scheming politician,the bribe taking babu or the Hawala trader with Swiss accounts.
In India the contribution of big businessand the corporate world to the all prevailing corruption and socialdegeneration has not received the attention it deserves. Even the more‘enlightened’ and ‘educated’ organizers and supporters of the Anna movement aresilent on this issue. The western protester seems to be more aware of thereality.
The common man in India is perhaps too harassed by the day to daycorruption, bribery, human rights violations etc to look beyond his nose andindentify the real culprit. Infact a section of the middle class is in awe of the corporate culture and viewsthem as ‘achievers’ rather than ‘usurpers’. They are willing to be fodder forthe corporate machine in the false hope of being in the driver’s seat sooner orlater.
Their beliefs were strengthened by acorporate controlled media and entertainment industry that presented a rosypicture of the system run by them and a distorted picture of any economicsystem different than theirs.
Bedazzled by the glitter of wealth andextravagance; oblivious of the ugly reality that was clothed in an attractiveattire of democracy and free market; the educated middle class in India hasbeen behaving like hypnotised zombies.
Theglobal discontent against the status quo is an indication that the zombies arecoming out of the hypnotic spell. They may not be able to pin pointthe malady in political, social and economic terms but they are very near themark.
The diehard supporters of the system areloath to admit this and are using all the tricks in the trade to ignore,belittle or defame this movement. One finds a striking similarity in thetactics of the critics of the occupiers and the detractors of the Annamovement.
They have been called naive, directionless and trouble makers. They have been called commies in the US and leftiesin India. On their part the protesters have set up kitchens, organized medicalcare set up information cells and taken extreme care to prevent the proteststurning violent be it the Zuccotti Park or the Ramlila ground.
Such commentators are either divorced fromreality or are consciously trying to prevent the inevitable: the overthrow ofan unviable, undemocratic, one sided political and economic dispensation. Theweaknesses of capitalism stand exposed. It is not only a bad economicsystem but a poor democracy as well.
The real face of democracy is apparent from the fact that the biggestexporter of democracy is busy these days firing plastic bullets and tear gasshells on the protestors.
This what Stephen Lendman, radio host andauthor says about the system:
“Whoever controls the power ofmoney has supreme power.
“The bankers in Wall Street have the powerof money and literally run the government. Goldman Sachs runs the government,JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America - they run the government. This has tostop. The people in the streets across America have to understand this anddemand that the power of money returns to the Congress.”
Recent reports from the US have exposed the tall claims of this countryon human rights and freedom to protest.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino toldthe local Fox 25 News in Boston:
“Civil disobedience will not be tolerated.”
Another report says:
“A new chapter in the annals of Americanpolice brutality has been written, as two Vietnam war veterans who joinedOccupy Boston protests suffered injuries after being beaten by police andarrested along with some 50 other demonstrators.”
The Guardian reported:
“In New York a section of Occupy Wall Streetprotesters are planning a “millionaires march” to wealthy Manhattan residents’homes.
“The action is being planned by UnitedNY,the Strong Economy for All Coalition, the Working Families Party, and New YorkCommunities for Change, all of whom helped swell the largest Occupy Wall Streetmarch so far last Wednesday”.
If the ‘experts’ are unable to see a precursor of a class division in the“millionaires march” they are either pretending or being a bit too clever.
The Indian middle class and their largelyapolitical leadership have not yet grasped the dangerous dimensions of the ‘newworld order’. The middle class is being rapidly pushed downwards as a result ofprice rise, increased cost of housing and shrinking job opportunities. Theagriculture sector, an important component of Indian economy is severelyaffected by a slow growth.
On the other hand despite recession thenumber of the super rich has gone up. India has 55 billionaires, according to2011 Forbes’ list. The combined fortune of the wealthiest citizens in India waspegged at about $247 billion by Forbes, which was well above 2010 total of $222billion.
India has been aptly called “a rich country, where poor live.”
Indian rulers are ignoring the writing onthe wall and are persisting with implementation of a western style economicsystem. And the common man is yet to realize and see the negative impact ofcorporate greed and power on their day to day life.
They dictate government policies; theycorrupt government officials and have no hesitation in sabotaging the publicsector enterprise. While they pay a pittance to their employees they fix absurdand astronomical salaries for themselves and their CEOs at the cost ofshareholders. They oppose subsidy for the poor but want more for themselves inthe form of SEZs, excise concessions and tax holidays.
How much they owe to the nation in the formof bank default, tax arrears, and Swiss Bank Accounts is not revealed to thenation. The tree of corruption gets its nutrition throughits corporate roots. The wilypolitician, the bribe taking bureaucrat, the crafty middle man; they are allthe front men of the corporate word.
Despite all this they are projected as imagebuilders and flag bearers of the nation by the corporate controlled media andgovernments alike.
Successive governments of the “free world”have not only allowed this pathological greed for money to flourish but haveactually helped it to grow into a monster that is threatening to devour thevery system that created it.
This monster is not only cornering all thewealth and resources but is devouring the very fabric of society. Ethics and moralityhave been relegated to the background; money, money and more money is themodern mantra of success.
Gone are the days when intellectuals, poets,teachers, philosophers were the role models. The role models today are thesuccessful and the only parameter of success is accumulation of assets orwealth for their companies.
The destruction of the value system, thedeterioration of living standards, the concentration of wealth in a few handsand the blatant misuse of money as power to manipulate governments was bound totake its toll. The frustration, the anger and despair has burst out in the formof a global protest. The 99 per cent in the US are already braving plasticbullets and tear gas shells of the one per cent.
Whether the anger and frustration of the Indian 99 per cent translateinto a struggle for economic equality and justice is yet to be seen. Will the Indian David be able to stand up to thecorporate Goliath? Will the proponents of globalization of business in Indiaget a taste of globalization of protest?
In the absence of a competent leadershipthere is always the danger of this movement losing its way.
World over there is a huge a vacuum ofleadership for many reasons. The society has been systematically depoliticizedby a corporate controlled media and entertainment industry. One hardly comesacross a movie, a TV serial or a theater show that highlights any socialissues. The emphasis is on religion, superstition and fundamentalism.
In such circumstances what type of leadership can one hope for?
The mainstream left has not just abdicatedits responsibility but has covertly crossed the fence.
What is left of the left has been so demonized by the corporatecontrolled media that many genuine activists are avoiding the label. David stands alone with his sling broken and halfthe stones stolen. It is a tribute to his grit that he is still standing.
In fact the people are ahead of the leaders.Whether or not the protests evolve into a significant political force with aclear agenda or a concrete set of demands remains to be seen.
For this to happen, India needs morethan anything a mass social and political movement to reassert the democraticcontrol over the economy and the State and to effectively end the control ofthe corporate-driven neoliberal capitalism. The ‘Occupy WallStreet’ movement offers just the spark to trigger such a movement needed inIndia.
Will the civil society throw up a leadershipthat has the political maturity to indentify the genesis of the present moral,social, political and economic crisis? Will the progressive left inIndia rise to the occasion and grab this opportunity?

OccupyWall Street and India's struggle against corruption have much in common, butOccupy goes much beyond ..

By Devinder Sharma

The screaming headlines provide insight into the dichotomythat prevails in our society. This newspaper reported that inChandigarh alone (in northwest India) Rs 80-crore worth of gold ornamentsand nearly 800 cars were sold on the occasion of Dhanteras. Far away inPatna, Rs 400-crore were withdrawn on the same day from ATMs. It seems buyingmetals on this auspicious occasion had beaten all records.

Most families consider Dhanteras to be an auspiciousoccasion to buy gold and silver. Unfortunately for them, the prices of theseprecious metals have gone through the roof in the last few months, making itdifficult for many to buy even a coin of few grams. Completely unable tocomprehend the reasons behind such high price-rise, many of them can be heardasking, “Why have gold prices increased so much”?

Little do they know that the unprecedented escalation ingold prices is only because of speculation in which just one per cent of theinvestors are raking in huge profits while 99 per cent end up paying throughthe nose. This in short is the essence of the slogan, ‘We are the 99 per cent’,that is sweeping across the continents. More than 950 cities in 82 countrieshave seen thousands of people streaming in to the roads, squares and the parksto protest against economic inequalities. What began as a silent sit-in by ahandful of protesters in the Wall Street -- the financial capital of the world-- New York a month back, has now spread like a wildfire.

In India too, some groups, including the Communist Party,have launched of the Indian version ‘Occupy Dalal Street’ from Nov 4.

Well, before we follow the global trends let me take youback to the days when petrol price internationally had shot up to $ 140 abarrel. This was barely two years back in 2009, just before the world witnessedan economic meltdown. I remember even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying thathe wasn’t sure whether it was because of a slump in production or rise indemand. The fact is the stupendous rise in oil prices was not because ofsupply-demand constraints. It was simply because of speculation in trading. Thecompanies which have invested in its stocks on the Wall Street try best togarner more profits.

Oil prices subsequently slumped to a low of $ 40 a barrel.From $ 140 a barrel to $ 40 a barrel certainly proves that demand had nothingto do with prices. It was all in the game ofspeculation.

In lot many ways Anna Hazare’s movement against corruptionlooked similar. But while, Team Anna is crusading for the removal of graft frompublic life, Occupy movement goes much beyond and hits at the very foundationsof the growing inequalities. Removing corruption will make available moreresources for development activities, and as Swami Ramdev has been sayingbringing back Rs 400 lakh crore of black money stacked abroad will makeavailable abundant resources that can be ploughed back to fight poverty andhunger.

Removing corruption is certainly the crying need. But whatmakes Swami Ramdev and Anna Hazare’s struggle against corruption and blackmoney different from Occupy campaign is that while you may not have to payunderhand for getting admission for you child in a school or a university butyou will still end up pay exorbitantly for the gold ornaments that you need tobuy for your daughter’s marriage. You will still continue to pay dearly andperiodically for hike in petrol and diesel prices. You will end up paying morenot because of supply demand constraints, but because some people are raking inmore money through speculations in trading. You and I eventually pay for thegreed of one per cent people.

Occupy movement is a global struggle for a decent living. Ithits at the very fundamental of the growing economic disparities, theinequalities and injustice that prevails.

OCCUPY WALL STREET

Occupy Wall Street is the original protest thatbegan the worldwide movement beginning September 17, 2011 in ZuccottiPark, located in New York City's Wall Streetfinancial district, initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters.The protests are against social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed,as well as corruption and the undue influence of corporations ongovernment—particularly from the financial services sector. The protesters'slogan We are the 99% refers to the growing income and wealth inequalityin the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. Theprotests in New York City have sparked similar Occupy protests and movementsaround the world.

In a blog post from July 13, 2011, the Canadian-based Adbusters MediaFoundation, best known for its advertisement-free, anti-consumeristmagazine Adbusters,proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest corporate influence ondemocracy, the absence of legal repercussions for those behind the recentglobal financial crisis, and a growing disparity in wealth.^[5][6]They sought to combine the symbolic location of the 2011 protests in Tahrir Square with the consensus decision making of the 2011 Spanish protests.^[7]Adbusters' senior editor, MicahWhite, said they had suggested the protest via their email list and it"was spontaneously taken up by all the people of the world.”^[6]Adbusters' website said that from their "one simple demand, apresidential commission to separate money from politics," they would"start setting the agenda for a new America."^[8]They promoted the protest with a poster featuring a dancer atop Wall Street'siconic Charging Bull statue.^[9][10]

The internet group Anonymous encouraged its readers to take part inthe protests, calling for protesters to "flood lower Manhattan, set uptents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a fewmonths."^[11][12]Other groups began to join in the organization of the protest, including theU.S. Day of Rage^[13]and the NYC General Assembly, which became the governing body of Occupy WallStreet.^[14]The protest itself began on September 17; a Facebook pagefor the demonstrations began two days later on September 19 featuring a YouTubevideo of earlier events. By mid-October, Facebook listed 125 Occupy-relatedpages, and roughly one in every 500 hashtags used on Twitter—all over theworld—was the movement's own #OWS.^[15]

Adbusters'Kalle Lasn,when asked why it took three years after the implosion of LehmanBrothers for people to begin protesting, said that after the election ofPresident Barack Obama there was a feeling among the young thathe would pass laws to regulate the banking system and "take thesefinancial fraudsters and bring them to justice." However, as time passed,"the feeling that he's a bit of a gutless wonder slowly crept in" andthey lost their hope that his election would result in change.^[16]

Zuccotti Park, the site of the occupation, was chosenbecause it was private property and police could not legally force protestersto leave without being requested to do so by the property owner.^[17]At a press conference held on the same day as the protests began, New York Citymayor Michael Bloomberg explained, "people have aright to protest, and if they want to protest, we'll be happy to make sure theyhave locations to do it."^[14]Writing for CNN, Sonia Katyal and Eduardo Peñalver said that "a straightline runs from the 1930s sit-down strikes in Flint, Michigan, to the 1960lunch-counter sit-ins to the occupation of Alcatraz by Native Americanactivists in 1969 to Occupy Wall Street. Occupations employ physical possessionto communicate intense dissent, exhibited by a willingness to break the law andto suffer the -- occasionally violent -- consequences."^[18]

More immediate prototypes for Occupy Wall Street are theBritish student protests of 2010, Greece and Spain's anti-austerity protests ofthe "indignados" (indignants), as well as the Middle East's Arab Springprotests. These antecedents have in common with Occupy Wall Street a relianceon social media and electronic messaging to circumvent the authorities, as wellas the feeling that financial institutions, corporations, and the politicalelite have been malfeasant in their behavior toward youth and themiddle class.^[19][20]Occupy Wall Street, in turn, gave rise to the Occupymovement in the United States and around the world.^[21][22][23]

[edit] The 99%

The phrase "The 99%" is a politicalslogan of "Occupy" protesters.^[30]It was originally launched as a Tumblr blog page in late August 2011.^[31][32]It refers to the vast concentration of wealth among the top 1% of incomeearners compared to the other 99 percent, and indicates that most people arepaying the price for the mistakes of a tiny minority.^[19][33]Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center told NPR that theslogan is "arguably the most successful slogan since 'Hell no, we won'tgo,' going back to the Vietnam era." According to Taylor, majorities ofDemocrats, independents and Republicans see the income gap as a cause offriction in the United States.^[34]
The top 1 percent of income earners havemore than doubled their income over the last thirty years according to a Congressional Budget Office(CBO) report.^[35]The report was released just as concerns of the Occupy Wall Street movementwere beginning to enter the national political debate.^[36]According to the CBO, between 1979 and 2007 the incomes of the top 1% ofAmericans grew by an average of 275%. During the same time period, the 60% ofAmericans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. Since1979 the average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households has decreasedby $900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federaltaxation became less progressive. From 1992-2007the top 400 income earners in the U.S. saw their income increase 392% and theiraverage tax rate reduced by 37%.^[37]In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $960,000 with a minimum income of$343,927.^[38][39][40]
In 2007 the richest 1% of the Americanpopulation owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and thebottom 80% of the population owned 15%. Financial inequality (total net worthminus the value of one's home)^[41]was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% of the populationowning 42.7%, the next 19% of Americans owning 50.3%, and the bottom 80% owning7%.^[42]However, after the Great Recession which startedin 2007, the share of total wealth owned by the top 1% of the population grewfrom 34.6% to 37.1%, and that owned by the top 20% of Americans grew from 85%to 87.7%. The Great Recession also caused a drop of 36.1% in median householdwealth but a drop of only 11.1% for the top 1%, further widening the gapbetween the 1% and the 99%.^[42][43][44]During the economic expansion between 2002 and 2007, the income of the top 1%grew 10 times faster than the income of the bottom 90%. In this period 66% oftotal income gains went to the 1%, who in 2007 had a larger share of totalincome than at any time since 1928.^[24]This is in stark contrast with surveys of US populations that indicate an"ideal" distribution that is much more equal, and a widespreadignorance of the true income inequality and wealthinequality.^[45]

[edit] Goals

Protesters targeted Wall Street because ofthe part it played in the economic crisis of 2008 which started the GreatRecession. They say that Wall Street's risky lending practices ofmortgage-backed securities which ultimately proved to be worthless caused thecrisis, and that the government bailoutbreached a sense of propriety, and created a state of moral hazard in thebanking industry. The protesters say that Wall Street recklessly and blatantlyabused the credit default swap market, and that the instability of that marketmust have been known beforehand. They say that the guilty parties should beprosecuted.^[23]
The protesters want, in part, more andbetter jobs, more equal distribution of income, bank reform, and a reduction ofthe influence of corporations on politics,^[46][47]which they sometimes refer to as corporatocracy.^[48][49]Adbusters co-founder Kalle Lasn has compared the protests to the Situationists and the Protestsof 1968 movements.^[23][50]and addresses critics saying that while no one person can speak for themovement, he believes that the goal of the protests is economic justice,specifically, a "transaction tax" on international financialspeculation, the reinstatement of the Glass-StegallAct and the revocation of corporate personhood.^[7]
Some journalists have criticized theprotests saying it is hard to discern a unified aim for the movement, whileother commentators, such as DouglasRushkoff, have said that although the movement is not in completeagreement on its message and goals, it does center on the problem that"investment bankers working on Wall Street [are] getting richer whilethings for most of the rest of us are getting tougher". According toRushkoff, "... we are witnessing America's first true Internet-eramovement, which -- unlike civil rights protests, labor marches, or even theObama campaign -- does not take its cue from a charismatic leader, expressitself in bumper-sticker-length goals and understand itself as having aparticular endpoint".^[46]
The General Assembly, the governing body ofthe OWS movement, has adopted a “Declaration of the Occupation of New YorkCity,” which includes a list of grievances against corporations,^[51]and to many protesters a general statement is enough. However, saying,"‘Power concedes nothing without a demand' " others within themovement have favored a fairly concrete set of national policy proposals.^[52]One group has written an unofficial document, "The 99 PercentDeclaration”, that calls for a national general assembly of representativesfrom all 435 congressional districts to gather on July 4, 2012, to assemble alist of grievances and solutions.^[53][54][55]OWS protesters that prefer a looser, more localized set of goals have alsowritten a document, the Liberty Square Blueprint,^[56]a wikipage edited by some 250 occupiers and still undergoing changes. Written as awiki the wording changes, however, an early version read: "Demandscannot reflect inevitable success. Demands imply condition, and we will neverstop. Demands cannot reflect the time scale that we are working with."^[53]The Guardian interviewed OWS and found three main demands: get the money out ofpolitics; reinstate the Glass-Steagall act; and draftlaws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members ofCongress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in whichthey themselves are investors.^[57]

JANLOKPAL BILL

Jan Lokpal Bill version 1.8

An act to create effective anti-corruption andgrievance redressal systems at centre so that effective

deterrent is created against corruption and toprovide effective protection to whistleblowers.

1. Short title andcommencement:- (1) ThisAct may be called the Anti-Corruption, Grievance

Redressal And Whistleblower Protection Act, 2010.

(2) It shall come into force on the one hundred andtwentieth day of its enactment.

2. Definitions:- In this Act, unless the contextotherwise requires,-

(1) “Action” means any action taken by a publicservant in the discharge of his functions as such public

servant and includes decision, recommendation orfinding or in any other manner and includes

willful failure or omission to act and all other expressionsrelating to such action shall be construed

accordingly;

(2) “Allegation” in relation to a public servantincludes any affirmation that such public servant-

(a) has indulged in misconduct, if he is a governmentservant;

(b) has indulged in corruption

(3) “complaint” includes any grievance or allegationor a request by whistleblower for protection and

appropriate action.

(4) “corruption” includes anything made punishableunder Chapter IX of the Indian Penal Code or

under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988;

Provided that if any person obtains any benefit fromthe government by violating any laws or rules,

that person along with the public servants whodirectly or indirectly helped that person obtain

those benefits, shall be deemed to have indulged incorruption.

(5) “Government” or “Central Government” meansGovernment of India.

(6) “Government Servant” means any person who is orwas any time appointed to a civil service or post

in connection with the affairs of the CentralGovernment or High Courts or Supreme Court either on

deputation or permanent or temporary or oncontractual employment but would not include the

judges.

(7) “grievance” means a claim by a person that hesustained injustice or undue hardship in

consequence of mal-administration;

(8) “Lokpal” means

a. Benches constituted under this Act and performingtheir functions as laid down under

various provisions of this Act; or

b. Any officer or employee, exercising its powers andcarrying out its functions and

responsibilities, in the manner and to the extent,assigned to it under this Act, or under

various rules, regulations or orders made undervarious provisions of this Act.

c. For all other purposes, the Chairperson andmembers acting collectively as a body;

(9) “Mal-administration” means action taken orpurporting to have been taken in the exercise of

administrative function in any case where,-

a. such action or the administrative procedure orpractice governing such action is

unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperlydiscriminatory; or

b. there has been willful negligence or undue delayin taking such action or the administrative

procedure or practice governing such action involvesundue delay;

(10)“Misconduct” means misconduct as defined in CCSConduct Rules and which has vigilance angle.

(11)"public authority" means any authorityor body or institution of self- government established or

constituted—

a. by or under the Constitution;

b. by any other law made by Parliament;

c. by notification issued or order made by theGovernment, and includes any body owned,

controlled or substantially financed by theGovernment;

(12)“Public servant” means a person who is or was atany time,-

(a) the Prime Minister;

(b) a Minister;

(d) Judges of High Courts and Supreme Court;

(e) a Government servant;

(f) the Chairman or Vice-Chairman (by whatever namecalled) or a member of a local

authority in the control of the Central Government ora statutory body or corporation

established by or under any law of the Parliament ofIndia, including a co-operative

society, or a Government Company within the meaningof section 617 of the

Companies Act, 1956 and members of any Committee orBoard, statutory or nonstatutory,

constituted by the Government;

(g) Such other authorities as the Central Governmentmay, by notification, from time to

time, specify;

(13)“Vigilance angle” includes –

(a) All acts of corruption

(b) Gross or willful negligence; recklessness indecision making; blatant violations of systems and

procedures; exercise of discretion in excess, whereno ostensible/public interest is evident;

failure to keep the controlling authority/superiorsinformed in time

subordinates on complaints of corruption ordereliction of duties or abuse of office by the

subordinates

(d) Indulging in discrimination through one’sconduct, directly or indirectly.

(e) Victimizing Whistle Blowers

(f) Any undue/unjustified delay in the disposal of acase, perceived after considering all relevant

factors, would reinforce a conclusion as to thepresence of vigilance angle in a case.

(g) Make unfair investigation or enquiry to eitherunduly help culprits or fabricate the innocent.

(h) Any other matter as notified from time to time byLokpal

(14)“Whistleblower” is any person who faces threat of(1) professional harm, including but not limited

to illegitimate transfers, denial of promotions,denial of appropriate perks, departmental

proceedings, discrimination or (2) physical harm or(3) is actually subjected to such harm; because

of either making a complaint to Lokpal under this Actor for filing an application under Right to

Information Act.

3. Establishment of theinstitution of Lokpal and appointment of Lokpal:

(1) There shall be an institution known as Lokpalwhich shall consist of one Chairperson and ten

members along with its officers and employees. TheLokpal shall be headed by its Chairperson.

(2) The Chairperson and members of Lokpal shall beselected in such manner as laid down in this

Act.

(3) A person appointed as Chairperson or member ofLokpal shall, before entering upon his office,

make and subscribe before the President, an oath oraffirmation in the form as prescribed.

(4) The Government shall appoint the Chairperson andmembers of the first Lokpal and set up the

institution with all its logistics and assets withinsix months of enactment of this Act.

(5) The Government shall fill up a vacancy of theChairperson or a member caused due to

a) Retirement, 3 months before the member or theChairperson retires.

b) Any other unforeseen reason, within a month ofsuch vacancy.

Chairperson and Members ofLokpal

4. The Chairperson andmembers of Lokpal not to have held certain offices- The Chairperson and

members of Lokpal shall not be serving or formermember of either the Parliament or the Legislature of

any State and shall not hold any office or trust ofprofit (other than the office as Chairperson or

member) or would have ever been connected with anypolitical party or carry on any business or

practice any profession and accordingly, before heenters upon his office, a person appointed as the

Chairperson or member of Lokpal shall-

(i) if he holds any office of trust or profit, resignfrom such office; or

(ii) if he is carrying on any business, sever hisconnection with the conduct and

management of such business; or

(iii) if he is practicing any profession, suspendpractice of such profession.

(iv) If he is associated directly or indirectly withany other activity, which is likely cause

conflict of interest in the performance of his dutiesin Lokpal, he should suspend his

association with that activity.

Provided that if even after the suspension, theearlier association of that person with

such activity is likely to adversely affect hisperformance at Lokpal, that person shall

not be appointed as a member or Chairperson of Lokpal.

5. Term of office and otherconditions of service of Lokpal– (1) A person appointed as the Chairperson

or member of Lokpal shall hold office for a term offive years from the date on which he enters upon his

office;

Provided further that.-

(a) the Chairperson or member of Lokpal may, bywriting under his hand addressed to the

President, resign his office;

(b) the Chairperson or member may be removed fromoffice in the manner provided in

this Act.

(2) There shall be paid to the Chairperson and each memberevery month a salary equal to that of the

Chief Justice of India and that of the judge of theSupreme Court respectively;

(3) The allowances and pension payable to and otherconditions of service of the Chairperson or a

member shall be such as may be prescribed;

Provided that the allowances and pension payable toand other conditions of service of the

Chairperson or members shall not be varied to hisdisadvantage after his appointment.

(4) The administrative expenses of the office of theLokpal including all salaries, allowances and pensions

payable to or in respect of persons serving in thatoffice, shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund of

India.

(5) There shall be a separate fund by the name of “Lokpalfund” in which penalties/fines imposed by the

Lokpal shall be deposited and in which 10% of theloss of Public Money detected/prevented on account

of investigations by Lokpal shall also be depositedby the Government. Disposal of such fund shall be

completely at the discretion of the Lokpal and suchfund shall be used only for

enhancement/upgradation/extension of theinfrastructure of Lokpal.

(6) The Chairperson or members shall not be eligiblefor appointment on any position in Government of

India or Government of any state or for fightingelections, if he has ever held the position of the

Chairperson or a member for any period.

Provided however that a member or Chairperson may bereappointed for one more term or a member

may be appointed as the Chairperson, however, thatany person shall not serve for more than a total of

two terms.

6. Appointment of theChairperson and members:

1. The Chairperson and members shall be appointed bythe President on the recommendation of a

selection committee.

2. Following persons shall not be eligible to becomeChairman or Member in Lokpal:

(a) Any person who was ever chargesheeted for anyoffence under IPC or PC Act or was ever

penalized under CCS Conduct Rules.

(b) Any person who is less than 40 years in age.

3. At least four members of Lokpal shall have legalbackground.

4. The members and Chairperson should haveunimpeachable integrity and should have

demonstrated their resolve and efforts to fightagainst corruption in the past.

5. A selection committee consisting of the followingshall be set up:

a. The Chairpersons of both Houses of Parliament

b. Two senior most judges of Supreme Court

c. Two senior most Chief Justices of High Courts.

d. All Nobel Laureates of Indian Origin

e. Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission

f. Last two Magsaysay Award winners of Indian origin

g. Comptroller and Auditor General of India

h. Chief Election Commissioner

i. Bharat Ratna Award winners

j. After the first set of selection process, theoutgoing members and Chairperson of

Lokpal.

6. The seniormost judge of Supreme Court shall act asthe Chairperson of the selection committee.

7. The following selection process shall be followed:

a. Recommendations shall be invited through openadvertisements in prescribed format.

b. Each person recommending shall be expected tojustify the selection of his candidate

giving examples from the past achievements of thecandidate.

c. The list of candidates along with theirrecommendations received in the format

mentioned above shall be displayed on a website.

d. Each member of the selection committee, on thebasis of the above material, shall

recommend such number of names as there arevacancies.

e. A priority list shall be prepared with thecandidate receiving recommendations from

maximum number of members of selection committee atthe top. The candidates

recommended by same number of members shall betreated at par.

f. This priority list shall be displayed on thewebsite.

g. Around three times the names as there arevacancies, shall be shortlisted from the top.

h. Public feedback shall be invited on theshortlisted names by putting these names on the

website.

i. The selection committee may decide to use anymeans to collect more information

about the background and past achievements of theshortlisted candidates.

j. Selection committee shall invite shortlistedcandidates for discussions, video recordings

of which shall be made public.

k. All the material obtained so far about thecandidates shall be made available to each

member of the selection committee in advance. Themembers shall make their own

assessment of each candidate.

l. The selection committee shall meet and discuss thematerial so received about each

candidate. The final selections for the Chairpersonand members shall be made

preferably through consensus.

Provided that if three or more members, for reasonsto be recorded in writing, object to

the selection of any member, he shall not beselected.

m. All meetings of selection committee shall be videorecorded and shall be made public.

8. The Prime Minister shall recommend the namesfinalized by the selection committee to the

President immediately, who shall order suchappointments within a month of receipt of the

same.

9. If any of the members of the selection committeeretires while a selection process is going on,

that member will continue on the selection committeetill the end of that process.

7. Removal of Chairpersonor members-

(1) The Chairperson or any member shall not beremoved from his office except by an order of the

President.

(2) They can be removed on one or more of thefollowing grounds:

a. Proved misbehavior

b. Professional or physical incapacity

c. If he is adjudged to be insolvent

d. Has been charged of an offence which involvesmoral turpitude

e. If he engages during his term of office in anypaid employment outside the duties of his

office

f. Has acquired such financial interests or otherinterests which are likely to affect

prejudicially his functions as member or Chairperson.

g. If he is guided by considerations extraneous tothe merits of the case either to favor

someone or to implicate someone through any act ofomission or commission.

h. If any member or Chairperson tries to or actuallyunduly influences any government

functionary.

i. If he commits any act of omission or commissionwhich is punishable under Prevention

of Corruption Act or is a misconduct.

j. If a member or the Chairperson in any way,concerned or interested in any contract or

agreement made by or on behalf of the Government ofIndia or participates in any way

in the profit thereof or in any benefit or emolumentarising there from otherwise than

as a member and in common with the other members ofan incorporated company, he

shall be deemed to be guilty of misbehavior.

(3) The following process shall be followed for theremoval of any member or Chairperson:

(a) Any person may move an application/petitionbefore the Supreme Court seeking removal of

one or more of the members of Chairperson of Lokpalalleging one or more of the grounds for removal

and providing evidence for the same.

(b) Supreme Court will hear the matter by a bench ofthree or more Judges on receipt of such

petition and may take one or more of the followingsteps:

(i) order an investigation to be done by a SpecialInvestigation Team appointed by the

Supreme Court if a prima facie case is made out andif the matter cannot be judged based on

affidavits of the parties. The Special InvestigationTeam shall submit its report within three

months.

(ii) Pending investigations under sub-clause (i) bySpecial Investigation Team, the

Supreme Court may decide to order withdrawal of partor complete work from that member.

(iii) dismiss the petition if no case is made out

(iv) if the grounds are proved, recommend to thePresident for removal of the said

member or Chairperson

(v) direct registration and investigation of caseswith appropriate agencies if there is

prima facie case of commission of an offencepunishable under Prevention of Corruption

Act.

Supreme Court.

Provided that if there are any proceedings going onagainst any judge in Lokpal, he shall not

be a part of either the panel or the bench.

(d) The Supreme Court shall not dismiss suchpetitions in liminae.

(e) If the Supreme Court concludes that the petitionhas been made with mischievous or

malafide motives, the Court may order imposition offine or imprisonment upto one year

against the complainant.

(f) On receipt of a recommendation from the SupremeCourt under this section, the Prime

Minister shall recommend it to the Presidentimmediately and the President shall order

removal of said members within a month of receipt ofthe same.

Powers and Functions ofLokpal

8. Functions of Lokpal: (1) Lokpal shall be responsible forreceiving:

(a) Complaints where there are allegations of suchacts of omission or commission which are

punishable under Prevention of Corruption Act

(b) Complaints where there are allegations ofmisconduct by a government servant

(d) Complaints from whistleblowers

(2) Lokpal, after getting such enquiries andinvestigations done as it deems fit, may take one or more of

the following actions:

a. Close the case if prima facie, the complaint isnot made out or

b. Initiate prosecution against public servants aswell as those private entities which

are party to the act

c. Order imposition of appropriate penalties underCCS Conduct Rules

Provided that if an officer is finally convictedunder Prevention of Corruption

Act, major penalty of dismissal shall be imposed onsuch government servant.

d. Order cancellation or modification of a license orlease or permission or contract or

agreement, which was the subject matter ofinvestigation.

e. Blacklist the concerned firm or company orcontractor or any other entity involved

in that act of corruption.

f. Issue appropriate directions to appropriateauthorities for redressal of grievance in

such time and in such manner as is specified in theorder.

g. Invoke its powers under this Act if its orders arenot duly complied with and ensure

due compliance of its orders.

h. Take necessary action to provide protection to awhistleblower as per various

provisions of this Act.

(3) Suo moto initiate appropriate action under thisAct if any case, of the nature mentioned in clauses

(1), (2), (3) or (4), comes to the knowledge of theLokpal from any source.

(4) Issue such directions, as are necessary, fromtime to time, to appropriate authorities so as to make

such changes in their work practices, administrationor other systems so as to reduce the scope and

possibility for corruption, misconduct and public grievances.

(5) Lokpal shall be deemed to be “Disciplinaryauthority” or “appointing authority” for the purpose of

imposing penalties under CCS Conduct Rules.

(6) Section 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act shallbe deleted.

(7) Section 197 of CrPC shall not apply to anyproceedings under this Act. All permissions, which need to

be sought for initiating investigations or forinitiating prosecutions under any Act shall be deemed to

have been granted once Lokpal grants suchpermissions.

9. Issue of Search Warrant,etc.- (1) Where, inconsequence of information in his possession, the Lokpal

(a) has reason to believe that any person. –

(i) to whom a summon or notice under this Act, has,been or might be issued,

will not or would not produce or cause to be producedany property, document

or thing which will be necessary or useful for orrelevant to any inquiry or other

proceeding to be conducted by him;

(ii) is in possession of any money, bullion,jewellery or other valuable article or

thing and such money, bullion, jewellery or othervaluable article or thing

represents either wholly or partly income or propertywhich has not been

disclosed to the authorities for the purpose of anylaw or rule in force which

requires such disclosure to be made; or

(b) considers that the purposes of any inquiry orother proceedings to be conducted by him will

be served by a general search or inspection,

he may by a search warrant authorize any Policeofficer not below the rank of an Inspector of Police to

conduct a search or carry out an inspection inaccordance therewith and in particular to, -

(i) enter and search any building or place where hehas reason to suspect that such property,

document, money, bullion, jewellery or other valuablearticle or thing is kept;

(ii) search any person who is reasonably suspected ofconcealing about his person any article

for which search should be made;

(iii) break open the lock of any door, box, lockersafe, almirah or other receptacle for

exercising the powers conferred by sub-clause (i)where the keys thereof are not available.

Seize any such property, document, money, bullion,jewellery or other valuable article or thing

found as a result of such search;

(iv) place marks of identification on any property ordocument or make or cause to be made;

extracts or copies therefrom; or

(v) make a note or an inventory of any such property,document, money, bullion, Jewellery or