Justice Iyer wants PM to be under Lokpal

KOCHI: Justice V R Krishna Iyer has said that the judiciary and the Prime Minister should be under the Lokpal Bill."The Lokpal itself must be of the highest order and plural in number. The Prime Minister and the judiciary shall be like Caesar's wife, above suspicion," he said in a statement. "The Prime Minister is the custodian of considerable state power. He has to be under public scrutiny. Therefore, I believe that if power is to be subject to public investigation and scrutiny, he has to be under the supervision of Lokpal Bill and cannot be exempted from it," Iyer said. Further stating that when Parliament misconducts and violates the Constitution people appeal to the judges for a remedy."In this view, the judges are sublime and must have control over the Executive and the Parliamentary process. Both these instruments are under the Lokpal jurisdiction. There is no case of exemption of these authorities. I am sorry that some high Chief Justices have expressed a different view.The greatest menace of India is that the judiciary itself is corrupt and no action is being taken.A powerful instrument must be set up for this if the confidence of the people is to be preserved," he said in a statement.