The report on the Lokpal Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Public Grievances and Personnel.
Anna Hazare and his team may not have managed to see introduction of their version of Lokpal Bill in Parliament, but an Independent MP on Monday submitted in Rajya Sabha a Private Member's Jan Lokpal Bill aimed at checking corruption.
The Congress core committee has rejected the demand made by Team Anna to withdraw the Lokpal bill from Parliament and replace it with the Jan Lokpal bill.
The United Progressive Alliance government on Tuesday extended the Winter session Parliament to pass four crucial anti-corruption bills -- the Lokpal Bill, the Citizens' Charter Bill, the Judicial Accountability Bill and the Whistleblowers' Bill.
The Lokpal Bill has always appeared to be a jinxed affair, the history of last 40 years shows.
Criticising the government over the delay in the passage of the Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said that the Bill should be passed before the Parliament session ends on Tuesday. "The government is still silent on the issue, maybe because no agitation is taking place on the streets," he said, adding that there was still no certainty whether the Bill would be passed in the Parliament or not.
The inclusion of the Lokayukta factor in the bill approved by the Cabinet is expected to become a sticky point in Parliament. Sheela Bhatt reports.
In an apparent softening of stand, social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday said Parliament was supreme and would accept its decision if it rejects the Lokpal Bill. Hazare also showed some flexibility on the August 15 deadline he had set for passage of the Lokpal Bill by Parliament saying he was open to extending it if he found that the government was on the right path.
As consensus eluded political parties on the issue of Lokpal, activist Anna Hazare on Thursday said that he has confidence in Parliament and it will pass the bill.
With Lok Sabha taking up the Lokpal Bill for debate, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it will press for amendments and support parties seeking changes in the proposed legislation if there is common ground.
Adopting a tough posture, team Anna Hazare on Wednesday asked a Parliamentary panel to recommend to the government to withdraw the Lokpal Bill and come out with a fresh measure that deals with problem of corruption faced by the public.
A move is afoot to extend the session of Parliament by three days from December 27 to 29 after a five day break from December 22, when it was scheduled to conclude, to facilitate adequate time for consideration of the Lokpal Bill. The Lokpal Bill is expected to be brought in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has sounded Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party leader L K Advani on the move and has promised to get back.
"Had we not been confident, we would not have introduced it," he told reporters while entering Parliament just ahead of the consideration of the crucial bill by the Lok Sabha.
Members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha on Saturday debated and discussed the issue of the Jan Lokpal bill, for which activist Anna Hazare has been on a hunger strike since the last 12 days.
Team Anna met the members of the Standing Committee of Parliament headed by Abhishek Singvi on Friday to discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill and pressed for as many as 34 fresh additions to the proposed Lokpal Bill that have already been incorporated in the Uttarakhand Lokayukata Bill. They renewed their demand that constitutional amendments bringing violation of citizens' charter and conduct of legislators in Parliament within the purview of the Lokpal also be introduced.
The contentious anti-corruption Lokpal bill will come up for discussion next month in Parliament after the ongoing one-month recess of the budget session, Union Minister V Narayanasamy said on Sunday.
Anna Hazare on Tuesday began his indefinite fast at his village in Maharashtra to press for immediate passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament even as Government said it was serious about getting the anti-graft measure passed in the current session itself.
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi on Tuesday said that he had plans to introduce Anna Hazare's version of Lokpal Bill as a private member's bill in Parliament. "I plan to introduce the Jan Lokpal Bill as a private member's bill in the Parliament. I will do that next week," said the BJP Lok Sabha member from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday called on President Pratibha Patil and briefed her about the consensus resolution passed in Parliament on Lokpal Bill.
Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare's indefinite hunger strike to press for passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament entered the seventh day on Monday.
The Union Cabinet will meet on Tuesday evening to take up the Lokpal Bill. The meeting will take place at 7:30 pm, sources said. The government has been racing against time to firm up the anti-graft Bill in view of the looming threat of Anna Hazare to go on a hunger strike from December 27 if Parliament fails to pass a strong Lokpal Bill.
The Samajwadi Party on Friday said it will strongly oppose the Lokpal Bill in Parliament, holding it was against the very basis of democracy.
As the government prepares to bring the Lokpal Bill to the Cabinet, social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday pitched for a strong version of the law to be presented for the consideration of Parliament.
The much-awaited Lokpal Bill is in for further delay with the term of a Parliamentary committee examining it being extended on Friday beyond September 3 to allow it to submit its report by the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament.
The much-awaited anti-corruption measure Lokpal was tonight one step short of becoming a law with the government sending the bill to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent.
Social activist Medha Patkar on Wednesday expressed confidence that the Jan Lokpal Bill, now being studied by a Parliamentary Standing Committee, will finally come into effect as it has public support.
The government on Thursday said it wants the Lokpal Bill to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha after evolving consensus among the political parties. "We would like the Bill to come to the Rajya Sabjha only after there is a consensus. If the Bill is brought and then consensus is sought in the House, it would lead to certain problems," Law Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament House.
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 demand of Anna Hazare and his supporters is to draft a new Lokpal bill, place it before the Parliament and make it an act.
Team Anna on Monday evening demanded that Lokpal Bill be passed by Parliament before the legislation on Food Security to ensure that the money spent on ensuring food for all reaches the deserved without any diversion of funds.
Amid the government's keenness to introduce Lokpal Bill in Parliament before the end of the winter session on December 22, the Union Cabinet on Sunday night had informal discussions on the much-hyped legislation which is expected to be taken up by the Cabinet formally on Monday.
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.
Defending the Lokpal Act passed by Parliament last year, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi on Thursday attacked Aam Aadmi Party charging it with spreading "misinformation".
With pressure mounting on the Centre for enacting a strong anti-graft legislation, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Lokpal Bill will "certainly" be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament.
Appealing to Anna Hazare to end his fast, the government on Wednesday said it has forwarded Jan Lokpal Bill to Parliament's Standing Committee for consideration and it is up to it to take a decision.
Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday slammed Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal for his opposition to the Lokpal Bill even after anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare supported it.
With Lok Sabha taking up the Lokpal bill on Wednesday, there are expectations that Anna Hazare, whose fast entered the ninth day, will call it off after it is passed in the Lower House.
Hazare said the Congress should understand the reality after the serious drubbing it received in the just-concluded assembly elections and ensure the passage of the Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament which is underway
Promising all efforts to get the Lokpal Bill passed in the current session of Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday expressed confidence that it will be brought to the Cabinet on Sunday.
Hardening its stand on the Lokpal Bill, United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress today ruled out any compromise on the Lokayukta provision and said the government should have faced voting in the Rajya Sabha.
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