Lokpal Bill weak, saddened by Hazare's stand: Kejriwal

Forget about any minister, not even a mouse will go to jail if this bill is enacted, says Kejriwal

Rejecting the Lokpal Bill under consideration in Rajya Sabha as "weak" and ineffective, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal today said nobody except Congress will be benefited by its passage while Rahul Gandhi will get the credit for it.

He also said he was saddened by Anna Hazare's stand that he would break his fast if the Lokpal Bill which is in the Upper House is enacted, warning that the proposed legislation will not prevent corruption but instead work to "protect the corrupt".

"Forget about any minister, not even a mouse will go to jail if this bill is enacted. I can assure you that there would not be a single conviction with this Lokpal in next 10 years. I pondered over who will gain from this Lokpal Bill. I found that Congress would gain and its Vice President Rahul Gandhi will get some credit for its passage," Kejriwal said.

He claimed that until Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was made independent, which has not been done in this Bill, there would not be a single conviction in corruption cases.

"In the past 50 years of CBI, there are only four convictions of political leaders by the agency. This is due to the fact that they report to their same political bosses against whom they probe a case.

"Had CBI been independent, then there was a possibility that even the Prime Minister might have been jailed in either 2G case or Coal scam," the AAP leader told reporters.

The party termed the Lokpal Bill as "weak" and said it will not prevent corruption but instead work to "protect the corrupt".

Criticising the Bill in present form, Kejriwal said the Bill which was passed on August 11, 2011 had the provision of an independent investigating machinery for the Lokpal.

"But today, how can we accept this weak Lokpal. We will continue with our agitation for Janlokpal and make the people aware that Parliament has failed to keep its three assurances made to Hazare to break his fast," he said.