Lokpal or Jan Lokpal Bill?

The Lokpal Bill has been drafted by two camps. One is of the Government and another is of the Anna Hazare camp.

However what are the main differences and problems of their drafts.

According to Wikipedia the differences are :

Difference between Draft Lokpal Bill 2010 and Jan Lokpal Bill[11]
Draft Lokpal Bill (2010)	Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill)
Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo motu action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public. It can only probe complaints forwarded by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.	Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo motoaction or receive complaints of corruption from the general public.
Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body with a role limited to forwarding reports to a "Competent Authority".	Lokpal will be much more than an Advisory Body and have the power to initiate prosecution of anyone found guilty.
Lokpal will have no police powers and no ability to register an FIR or proceed with criminal investigations.	Lokpal will have police powers as well as the ability to register FIRs.
The CBI and Lokpal will be unconnected.	Lokpal and the anti corruption wing of the CBI will be one independent body.
Punishment for corruption will be a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of up to 7 years.	Punishments will be a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of up to life imprisonment.

According to me both these Bills have major problems.

The Problems in the Government Draft:

- The Lokpal will work only on an advisory capacity: I find this unacceptable. Most bodies, Committees and commissions that are given advisory power are not effective. Most times no action is taken. For Lokpal to be effective it will have to be given an independent power on the lines of the judiciary and the election commission.

- The Government Draft proposes that Lokpal can take cases only given by the Parliament: Again I find this unacceptable. If a politician or government official are suspect of undertaking corrupt practices them may have enough clout to prevent such a case being passed by Parliament. Hence Lokpal needs independence.

- Giving the Lokpal no police power or ability to register an FIR is again absolutely absurd: For Lokpal to find, gather and investigate a corrupt official it needs to be given certain policing powers. And if Lokpal does manage to find and gather enough evidence then why should it be prevented from filing this case.

The Problem with the Anna Hazare Draft is:

- Receiving Complaints from the General Public: The problem I have with this is that Lokpal could become over burden if it takes complaints from the general public. Cases may start to backlog and the aim to finish an investigation within a month may not seem possible. The situation of the Indian Judiciary which is overburden and under heavy backlog is an example. The objective of having Lokpal accept general public complaints is that corruption cases from the highest level to the lowest level will come to light. However what is being failed to be realized is that if the top levels become clear, those clean leaders will enforce anti-corruption throughout their department.

What would be preferred is if cases are given by the Parliament and the Indian Judiciary.

- CVC and anti-corruption wing of CBI coming under Lokpal: While the idea sounds appealing it is not practical. To uproot such departments and give them another head is not reasonable. However what can be done is a new department to be created under the Lokpal.

The Government versions of the Lokpal makes it ineffective and useless, while the Jan Lokpal Bill has some unrealistic suggestions.