Taking exception to the government's 'comparative' analysis of the two drafts of the Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare team on Monday asked Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to treat both its versions as the joint drafting committee's outcome enjoying 'equal weightage'.
"The civil society members on the joint drafting committee presented a document with respect to the objects of the bill as well as a document which enunciated the general principles underlying the bill," HRD Minister and government representative in the committee Kapil Sibal told media persons after the second meeting of the committee.
"What was even more shocking that even someone like Anna Hazare, who was spearheading the movement against rising corruption in the country, did not care to ensure inclusion of a Dalit on the committee. After all he hails from Maharastra which gave birth to the greatest Dalit icon Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, who led several movements for the upliftment of the downtrodden dalits," Mayawati said.
Former Union law minister and civil activist Shanti Bhushan has urged the government to hold an open debate on the Lokpal Bill so that the people of India get to know the stance taken by the various members of the drafting committee.Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, chairman of the Lokpal Bill Drafting committee, is yet to respond to Bhushan's demand.Bhushan, who is one of the five representatives of the civil society on the panel, said the government was backtracking.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that his office has been kept under the purview of the Jan Lokpal Bill, whose broad contours have been finalised, and the bill will be taken up in the cabinet early next week.
Civil society members on Thursday came down heavily on the government's decision to present only their version of the Lokpal Bill.
Government on Thursday ruled out sending two drafts of Lokpal bill to the Union Cabinet in the wake of strong differences with the civil society which it accused of 'obstructing' the fight against corruption.
Karnataka Lokayukta and a member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Santosh Hegde on Saturday said he was apprehensive about the final outcome of the proposed bill as it could be a watered down version of what was originally envisaged.
Justice N Santhosh Hegde, member of the Lokpal bill drafting committee, says: "It is sure going to be a no impact bill and I really do not have any great expectations from it says."
The roller-coaster ride of the government-civil society joint drafting committee on the Lokpal (ombudsman) Bill has ended in a draw, but left both sides badly injured. Whether the tie will be broken when they present their separate recommendations to a proposed all-party committee in July remains an open question.
Leaders of political parties met in Delhi on Sunday to evolve a consensus on Lokpal Bill amid a demand by civil society group led by Anna Hazare that the proposed law should have the prime minister and the higher judiciary within its ambit.
Social activist Anna Hazare and his supporters on Thursday burned copies of government's version of the Lokpal Bill in Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra. The Lokpal Bill was tabled in the Parliament on Thursday. N Ganesh reports.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of "playing tricks" with the people of the country, Anna Hazare on Thursday questioned the rationale behind sending two versions of the Lokpal Bill to the Cabinet for consideration.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday spurned Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's request for inputs on the proposed Lokpal Bill, arguing it would not be proper for a political party to submit its views to a drafting committee comprising civil society members as it would upset constitutional propriety.
Justice Santosh Hegde, who was part of the drafting committee of the Jan Lokpal Bill, says that his biggest complaint with regard to the new government draft of the Bill was that no independent probing agency had been provided for the Lokpal.
Social activist and close aide of Anna Hazare, Prashant Bhushan, said that the move would help their cause and will let people know the truth.
The meeting of the Joint Drafting Committee of the Lokpal Bill, scheduled to be held later on Tuesday, is expected to be a decisive one. But the representatives of civil society don't have any high hopes from this meeting.
Contrary to Anna Hazare team's description of government's Lokpal Bill draft as a "very big hoax", Swami Agnivesh, an associate of the Gandhian's anti-graft campaign, on Friday termed the latest draft as an "improvement" of its 2010 draft.
Meetings of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill slated for June 20 and 21 would be a mere formality with little scope for discussion, Karnataka Lokayukta and a member of the panel Santosh Hegde said on Thursday.
Backtracking on his Sunday's statement, Anna Hazare on Monday stuck to his August 15 deadline for passage of the Lokpal bill failing which he will resort to agitation.
Union Minority Welfare Minister Salman Khursid, a key member of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill, on Monday defended the government's approach as 'sensitive and lenient' and said none could be above the existing parliamentary system.
Noted filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and eminent historian K N Panikkar have raised questions on Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, accusing him of adopting an "authoritarian" approach in selecting civil society members in the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill.
The notification, one of the key demands of the anti-corruption campaign launched by Gandhian Anna Hazare, has been signed by V K Bhasin, Secretary, Legislative Department of the law ministry.
Unable to comprehend the deliberations in English in the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has sought an interpreter for himself from the next meeting.
Amid sharp differences between representatives of government and civil society, the two sides will meet on Monday in a last ditch attempt to resolve contentious issues and hammer out a consensus on Lokpal Bill.
Highlights of the government's new Lokpal Bill
The demand of Anna Hazare and his supporters is to draft a new Lokpal bill, place it before the Parliament and make it an act.
After civil society activists slammed the government's Lokpal Bill, the Centre on Friday said that people who are not satisfied with the Bill can approach the Standing Committee of Parliament and persuade it to make changes. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, who was part of the joint committee to draft the bill, said the government has already reconciled taking into account a number of provisions suggested by the civil society.
The Delhi government on Wednesday cleared the Jan Lokpal Bill, paving the way towards creating the post of an anti-graft ombudsman, which it claimed was similar to the one proposed during the Anna Hazare movement, and will table it in the Assembly soon.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to go into a batch of Public Interest Litigations challenging constitutional validity of the notification on composition of a committee to draft the Jan Lokpal bill, saying the petitions were "premature".
In a sharp reaction to Rahul Gandhi's comments on the Lokpal Bill, the Bhyaratiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged Congress and its allies are blocking the passage of the legislation and it is ready to support the measure even amid the din and without a discussion.
With the Aam Aadmi Party's deadline of passing Jan Lokpal Bill nearing, the Delhi government on Tuesday said its draft was being finalised and it would be cleared in a cabinet meeting on Friday.
The Jan Lokpal Bill is likely to be approved by the Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday as its draft has almost been finalised by a panel headed by chief secretary.
A day after social activist Anna Hazare launched his fast-unto-death on the Lokpal Bill issue, government on Wednesday said it was open to any suggestion on the proposed legislation and had not turned down his demand for a joint committee.
Terming as "slow" the drafting of Lokpal Bill, joint panel co-chair Shanti Bhushan on expressed doubts over completion of the process by the deadline of June 30 and urged the government to communicate to the civil society its position on issues of divergence.
An all party meeting to seek views across the political spectrum on the issue of inclusion of the prime minister under the Lokpal Bill is likely to be held in the first week of next month.
The Delhi Cabinet on Monday cleared the draft of the much talked-about Jan Lokpal bill which provides for covering all public servants -- from chief minister to Group D employees -- and seeks life term as maximum punishment for those found guilty of corruption.
The Delhi cabinet on Friday decided to call a special session of the assembly to take up the Jan Lokpal Bill that seeks to punish corrupt officials on February 16 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium instead of the historic Ramlila ground as announced by ruling Aam Aadmi Party earlier.
The new draft aimed at checking political and administrative corruption, which was presented to the government at the joint drafting committee meeting on Lokpal, retained the original provision to bring judges of the higher judiciary within the ambit of the Lokpal, notwithstanding the reservations of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.
On the eve of the maiden meeting of the 10-member joint committee on Saturday to draft the Lokpal bill, government on Friday said it has an open mind on the issue.
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