Those who have revealed the details of complaints against Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his ministerial colleagues before the Punjab Lokpal and published the content of the complaint, may be jailed upto six months for breaching "in-camera" proceeding provisions of the Punjab Lokpal Act.

The veil of secrecy in the law at a time of the clamour for a transparent Lokpal and then its violation by complainants just ahead of the assembly election is intriguing.

As per Sections 18 and 19 of the Punjab Lokpal Act 1996 (as amended in 2004), the proceedings have to be completely "in-camera" with even revealing or publishing the names of the complainant, its details and the suspect becoming punishable.

When asked about the "in-camera" provisions of the Lokpal Act, the Punjab Lokpal Justice (retd) DS Dhaliwal refused to confirm any details about the complaint saying, "As per the Punjab Lokpal Act, even a list of court appearances of the two parties is not displayed as it happens in normal courts to maintain proceedings completely secret till either the complaint is closed or the investigation has been completed."