Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley is expected to table the report of Rajya Sabha's Select Committee on Lokpal in the Upper House on Friday, the second day of the winter session of Parliament. The committee is headed by Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi and such reports are usually tabled by the chairmen of the committees. The government is expected to consider the recommendations made by the Select Committee.
The Parliamentary panel scrutinising the Lokpal Bill is likely to submit its report early next month and the redrafted legislation will be "far superior" to anything that has been proposed so far, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said on Sunday.
Dalit leader Udit Raj, who is campaigning against Team Anna's version of the Lokpal Bill, on Tuesday demanded that corporates, NGOs and media should be brought under the anti-corruption ombudsman to make the law "more effective". "If there is no representation of plurality, I don't think this law will be successful," the National Chairman of All India Confederation of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Organisations said.
Contrary to Anna Hazare's view -- that Rahul Gandhi was behind the Standing Committee's decision to exclude the lower bureaucracy from the purview of Lokpal -- there are indications now that it may be Gandhi who may want their inclusion, says Neerja Chowdhury
The government may drop the clause on setting up of a Lokayukta in states in the Lokpal Bill to bring some opposition parties as also allies like Trinamool Congress on board.
Team Anna on Thursday rejected the Lokpal bill describing it as "anti-people and dangerous" and demanded that a new bill be brought in Parliament that will make the Central Bureau of Investigation independent and decentralise the proposed anti-corruption body.
A meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Anna Hazare is expected soon despite differences between Congress and the civil society over the issue of Lokpal Bill. An indication to this effect was given by a senior party leader who declined to be identified.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Veteran social activist Kisan Baburao alias Anna Hazare is going on fast unto death at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from March 5 to press for Parliament to enact the 'Jan Lokpal bill' drafted by former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde to effectively tackle corruption in the government.
After an impressive turnout on Sunday, the morning crowd at the fast venue of Jantar Mantar in New Delhi was just around 400 with organisers blaming the low turn out on rains and disruption in Metro services due to collapse of the Northern Power Grid. They said they expect the crowd to swell as the day progressed.
The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party on Tuesday staged a walk out from the Lok Sabha shortly before the voting on the Lokpal Bill in protest against the government bringing a "weak" legislation.
Opposing the United Progressive Alliance government's Lokpal Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday said we do not want a weak and hollow law.
The anti-corruption Lokpal Bill was brought back to the Rajya Sabha on Friday in an amended form but its consideration was thwarted by Samajwadi Party, an outside supporter of the UPA government, which disrupted proceedings.
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."
Activists of India Against Corruption led by Anna Hazare, got a shot in the arm with a referendum receiving overwhelming support in Congress President Sonia Gandhi's constituency Rae Bareli on Saturday.
Hailing the Lokpal bill as the single most powerful anti-corruption law in independnent India, Congress on Thursday cautioned parties obstructing the legislation that they will face the anger of the people.
With the Budget session set to conclude on Tuesday, the much debated Lokpal Bill, instead of being brought in the Rajya Sabha, could be referred to a Joint Select Committee amid lack of consensus on its key provisions.
The much-talked about Lokpal Bill could be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with the government writing to the Speaker to waive off the two-day period required before introducing a bill.
Questioning the impartiality of the parliamentary committee examining the Lokpal Bill, a leading citizens' forum has sought the reconstitution of the panel as a befitting response to unprecedented anti-corruption movement in our country.
Voicing disappointment over passage of a "useless" Lokpal Bill in Lok Sabha, Team Anna on Wednesday said it appeared the legislation is headed for a joint session of Parliament as the Rajya Sabha may pass a version different from the one already passed.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko today criticised the United Progressive Alliance government for failure to pass Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha and opposed inclusion of Lokayukta in the legislation, saying it was an encroachment on the state's rights.
The much-awaited Lokpal Bill was on Tuesday taken up for consideration by the Lok Sabha on a stormy note with the Opposition demanding its withdrawal contending it was full of deficiencies, even as the government asserted that it had sought to strike a fine balance.
Congress on Tuesday said it will not support the Jan Lokpal bill if it is brought by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi without following "constitutional norms".
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday took a swipe at the Aam Aadmi Party government, saying the country cannot run on 'Mohalla Sabhas' and a law cannot be decided on the streets.
A significant number of participants in the referendum were the youth, who did not mince words while expressing their disgust with corruption and the blatant reluctance of the entire political class in taking it head-on.
With the Lokpal Bill slated to come up in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, a near unanimity emerged at an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Monday, but United Progressive Alliance's outside supporter Samajwadi Party remained a stumbling block continuing its opposition to the anti-corruption measure.
Anna Hazare on Sunday warned of "unprecedented revolution" in the country if Lokpal Bill is not passed by August 30 and said the government will have to "either get the bill passed or go."
Preparing for a showdown, Aam Aadmi Party government tonight said it was going ahead with tabling of the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi assembly on Thursday notwithstanding Union Law Ministry's view that Centre's prior approval was required for it even as Congress and BJP held the move by the ruling dispensation as "unconstitutional".
Alleging that ruling Congress is "not serious" about bringing Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the United Progressive Alliance government could have brought the anti-graft legislation long ago as there was consensus over the issue.
The much-delayed Lokpal Bill has finally been passed by both the Houses of Parliament. Following are some important features of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, passed by Parliament
The Aam Aadmi Party government is unlikely to table the anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill on the first day of the assembly session beginning on Thursday.
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.
Even as Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh assured the nation that his government was committed in passing the Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare continued to accuse the government of deceit.
Even as Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh assured the nation that his government was committed in passing the Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare continued to accuse the government of deceit.
The new Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill and a related Constitution Amendment Bill to grant the proposed ombudsman a constitutional status were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, withdrawing an earlier Lokpal Bill, after hours of wrangle and adjournment twice.
The much-awaited and debated Lokpal Bill was finally introduced in the Parliament on Thursday. While Anna Hazare and team burnt copies of the bill calling it 'anti-poor', 'anti-Dalit', the Bharatiya Janata Party raised several objections to the proposed bill, mainly objecting to exclusion of prime minister from the purview of the proposed legislation.
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.
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