NEW DELHI, Feb 21 : The government suffered a major setback in Rajya Sabha on Friday as the opposition led by BJP and CPM did not let the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill to be introduced and passed.

The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last December amidst din along with 16 other Bills.

On Friday, attempts by the government to reach out to CPM and BJP also failed. Brinda Karat of CPM refused to withdraw three amendments moved by her on the ground that the Bill in its present form looks like a “protection of corruption Bill”. BJP also told foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee that it would not accept dilution in the definition of corruption.

BJP has only agreed with one provision in the bill that prior sanction be taken to prosecute retired public servants. Even Left does not have problem with this amendment.

It is believed that a section of leaders in Congress were also opposed to letting the bill pass in the present form.

One of Karat’s crucial amendment is to stop deletion of section 13(1) (d) III of the PCA. This section says that a public servant is said to commit the offence of criminal misconduct if while holding office he obtains for any person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage without any public interest. Government argument in seeking deletion of the clause is that it puts under investigation decisions of senior bureaucrats that involve “public and commercial interests”.

Another amendment by Karat relates to a provision in the bill that deletes the last part of the definition of “known sources of income” of a public servant. The deletion would do away with requirement of a public servant to intimate his “lawful income” to authorities as per the rules applicable.

Backroom parleys on the bill had begun as early as Monday. Yet, the three amendments were moved by Karat.

Apart from the amendments, she was also demanding that a legislation of such an importance be sent to parliamentary standing committee. She was approached by Congress’s V Narayanswamy to withdraw the amendments. On her refusal, she was requested to meet minister of state in PMO, Prithviraj Chavan. But she refused. On Friday, when MPs met in the Business Advisory Committee meeting, both BJP and CPM MPs demanded that the bill be sent to the standing committee. Karat again refused to withdraw her amendments.
Then Mukherjee tried to convince BJP leaders but with no results.