RANCHI, June 24 (IANS): Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Friday said a parallel government in the form of Lokpal cannot be allowed to function in the country.
"(Gandhian) Anna Hazare team wants unlimited power in Lokpal without having any accountability. A government is accountable to parliament and people," Sibal told a press conference here.
"Judicial decisions are reviewed at higher level but Lokpal will be accountable to whom?" he asked.
"We have accepted many demands of the Anna team like empowering Lokpal to investigate, prosecute, speedy trials, financial powers and other demands. We also accepted that Lokpal should be an independent institution," he said.
Sibal said corruption was a national issue and not confined to a particular party. People's attention was being diverted from core issues like education and health, he added.
He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was behind yoga guru Baba Ramdev, whose fast against corruption in New Delhi was forcibly broken up by police.
On bringing back black money stashed abroad, the minister said: "It will take time. We have initiated the process with many countries to share information on black money.
"We do not have Alladin's magic to bring the black money back to India. Mauritius is the route of black money and we have initiated dialogue with many countries about tax information treaty," he said.
