India's new draft anti-corruption law suffers from one of the main problems outlined in my previous blog on anti-corruption agencies: the ombudsman, or lokpal, that it establishes to investigate corruption would lack the power to investigate the prime minister, MPs, and many senior public officials. The lokpal does have considerable powers vis a vis other offices, which are nicely set out by the Wall Street Journal here.
But nonetheless it means that, right from the start, the all-important Tone at the Top is lacking. That sends a very unhelpful message that guys at the top are untouchable and means that other agencies are going to be cautious about cooperating.
Is an ineffective anti-corruption agency better than none at all? I'm not sure that it is. In many places it's just a recipe for a highly politicised pursuit of one political tribe by another, undermining the trust in state institutions that is so necessary to building a better system.
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