The biggest problem today is that all political parties have become united, which is disastrous to the cause, says Justice Santosh Hegde.
Following is the text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks at the all party meeting on the Lokpal issue in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
Rejecting allegations that the government sprung a surprise by referring the Lokpal bill to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal said political parties were consulted before taking the move.
The Lokpal Bill is likely to be introduced in Rajya Sabha on November 29, according to a highly-placed source. The Congress Party's confident manner towards the approaching winter session indicates the party's decision to use the bill as a political weapon to ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party refrains from disrupting Parliament sessions.
Following is the text of the Gazette Notification issued by the government constituting the Joint Drafting Committee comprising ministers and civil society activists to prepare the draft Lok Pal Bill.
Civil society members of the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill on Monday submitted two documents to the government outlining "principles and objects" for the proposed legislation.
'The CBI and its independence was discussed in great detail. We invited and sought the views of the CBI director as well as several government officials. But the ingenious solution to the problem came from within the committee. The effort was to somehow find a solution. It would not have been possible to draft this Bill if members had not been liberal in their views and if they had not been prepared to rid themselves of their political bias.' Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who headed the Parliamentary committee which proposed the recommendations for the Lokpal Bill, speaks to Anita Katyal in an exclusive interview.
Government and civil society exercise to work out an agreed draft of the Lokpal Bill ended in failure tonight after which Anna Hazare announced that he will go ahead with his fast from August 16 to "teach the government a lesson".
The Delhi Cabinet on Friday decided to call a special session of Assembly to take up the Jan Lokpal Bill, which seeks life term as maximum punishment for corrupt babus, on February 16 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium instead of historic Ramlila ground as announced earlier.
Delhi assembly on Friday passed the Janlokpal Bill, incorporating suggestions of Anna Hazare, which provides for an ombudsman with powers to act against any government functionary.
Union minister and a key member of the Lokpal bill drafting committee Kapil Sibal on Thursday said that Team Hazare's version of the legislation was unacceptable, as some of its provisions were against the basic tenets of the Constitution.
Amid roiling controversy over Lokpal Bill drafting committee members, Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday ruled out any changes in the panel and said the government is looking forward to receiving inputs from Justice Santosh Hegde on the bill.
Reacting to Mayawati's objection over the absence of any Dalit on the Jan Lokpal Bill draft committee, Agnivesh said, "I do welcome her objection and thank her for raising the issue. But I would also like to ask the UP chief minister to declare whether she had taken any effective steps to curb the rampant corruption in her government.
Accusing the government of reducing the meetings of the joint committee to a mere "show of formality", Gandhian Anna Hazare expressed surprise that the government told them that finally two Bills will be sent to the Cabinet -- one drafted by the civil society and one by the government representatives.
The joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill met in New Delhi on Tuesday for the last time amid "fresh and serious" differences between the government and Anna Hazare team.
Fresh controversy has erupted with regard to the Lokpal Bill with some members of the Bill drafting committee deciding not to take part in the next meeting.
The government has now agreed to make public the audio recordings of proceedings of the joint drafting committee constituted to draft the Lokpal Bill.
Gandhian Anna Hazare on Sunday brushed aside Baba Ramdev's criticism on inclusion of father-son duo Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in Lokpal Bill drafting committee and virtually ruled out any change in the nominees, saying the focus is on having an effective anti-graft measure.
The joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill on Saturday had its first meeting when civil society representatives presented a new draft of the legislation to the government with both sides expressing hope that the new law will be brought in the monsoon session of Parliament.
A parliamentary committee has recommended delinking creation of Lokayuktas from the Lokpal Bill, a provision that was strongly opposed by cpolitical parties including those supporting the United Progressive Alliance.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Thursday said he was reconsidering his decision to be on the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, apparently upset over the vilification campaign against the anti-graft panel.
In an interview with Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, one of the members of the Joint Drafting Committee if the Lokpal Bill, sets the record straight on why the talks broke down.
On the eve of the second meeting of the joint Lokpal Bill drafting committee, social activist Anna Hazare's supporters held a rally across India on Sunday demanding early implementation of a strong Ombudsmen legislation.
A day after asking Anna Hazare not to fast from August 16 if a strong anti-corruption bill is not prepared, Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, a Lokpal Bill drafting committee member, on Sunday expressed solidarity with him saying that they had no differences.
Anna Hazare, fasting for the last five days for passage of Lokpal Bill, on Saturday said he was happy with the amended legislation presented in the Rajya Sabha and would call off his hunger strike the moment the law is enacted.
Sharp differences came to the surface at a meeting of the drafting committee for Lokpal bill on Monday with the government strongly opposing proposals for inclusion of prime minister, higher judiciary and acts members of Parliament inside Parliament under its purview.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Digvijay Singh backtracked on his own remarks about retired Supreme Court judge Justice Santosh Hegde, who is currently on the Lokpal Bill draft committee.
A petition had been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to restrain activist Anna Hazare from going on a fast on the Lokpal Bill issue from August 16, saying his demands are "unconstitutional" and amount to "interference in legislative process".
The government draft on the Lokpal Bill, which is expected to be considered by the Cabinet this week, does not include the prime minister in the purview of the ombudsman but the final call on the ticklish issue will be taken by Parliament and its Standing Committee. Disclosing this, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Bill will be introduced in Parliament in the monsoon session starting on August 1.
Disappointed over the draft report of the Standing Committee on Lokpal Bill, Team Anna member Kiran Bedi has warned that going back on the commitment given by Parliament would encourage a mass movement again. When asked for her comments on the draft report which sought to keep lower bureaucracy out of the ambit of the ombudsman, Bedi said, "This is going back on the commitment and will call for mass movement again".
Can the proposed 11-member Lokpal contest elections after demitting office? This ticklish issue came up at the sixth meeting of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill on June 15, which the Anna Hazare team boycotted.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apparently to discuss the Lokpal issue.
Right To Information activist Subhash Aggarwal is a pleased man today. After waiting for four months, his application, which appealed to make public the deliberations of the joint Lokpal drafting committee, has been finally heard on Sunday.
The first meeting of the newly-constituted joint committee comprising ministers and civil society activists to draft the Lokpal Bill will be held on Saturday.
Consensus on the inclusion of the prime minister under the ambit of Lokpal eluded a Parliamentary panel scrutinising the bill even as it prepares to circulate a draft report of the recommendations to the members in the next few days.
We had asked our readers to suggest ways to resolve the stand-off between the United Progressive Alliance government and Team Anna Hazare on the proposed Lokpal Bill draft. The responses.
Swami Agnivesh has questioned the statement of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the chairman of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, that nobody can dictate terms to Parliament, the highest constitutional body that governs the country.
The Lokpal bill drafting committee on Monday appeared to be headed for a collision course with the government opposing demands to bring the prime minister, higher judiciary and MPs' corrupt acts inside Parliament under its purview, provoking a civil society threat to take to the streets again.
Justice Santosh Hegde on Monday disapproved the move to bring breach of privilege motion against Kiran Bedi and actor Om Puri for their controversial remarks about parliamentarians at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi saying such a motion should be used in exceptional cases.
While Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh demanded resignation of father-son duo Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan from the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, the civil society members raised doubts over the forensic test report.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances