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.
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.
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.
In an apparent show of unanimity, the report of the Select Committee on Lokpal Bill, which has recommended delinking creation of Lokayuktas in states from the central bill, is scheduled to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday by Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
The much-hyped Lokpal Bill could be tabled in Rajya Sabha in the ongoing monsoon session if a parliamentary panel looking into the legislation gives its report before the end of the session, the government said on Thursday.
The move assumes significance as the government decided to go ahead with the formation of the search committee despite Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the Lokpal selection panel.
The leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha will be included in a panel to select the chairperson and members of Lokpal under the amended law, governing the functioning of the anti-corruption body, approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
The Department of Personnel and Training has expedited efforts to select seven members and chairperson of the Search Committee for Lokpal, official sources said.
The government has notified new Lokpal search committee rules, giving it more freedom to recommend names for chairperson and members of the anti-corruption body outside the list provided by the Department of Personnel and Training.
Kharge shoots off another letter to the prime minister.
Kharge said that a special invitee invitation is a "concerted effort" to exclude the voice of the opposition in Lokpal selection.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on July 17.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress were at loggerheads on Wednesday over the government's move to appoint a jurist to Lokpal selection panel with the main opposition approaching President Pranab Mukherjee to press its demand for a consensus on such an issue.
The AG said that the names for the search committee have not been finalised yet.
Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as judicial members in the anti-corruption ombudsman.
The Lokpal has been working without its regular chief after Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27, 2022.
Justice Ghose, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2017, is a member of the National Human Rights Commission.
The Lokpal can't be appointed in the current scenario as amendments regarding the definition of the Leader of Opposition in the Lokpal Act was pending in Parliament, AG said.
In yet another twist, the controversial Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill was on Monday referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha, further delaying the setting up of the anti-graft ombudsman which has been hanging fire for 42 years.
Citing overlapping of functions, a parliamentary committee on Monday recommended integrating Central Vigilance Commission and anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation to work directly under the command and control of Lokpal to deal with corruption cases.
The Lokpal chairperson, all of its eight members and support staff are being allocated space in the hotel premises.
The government is moving a proposal to amend the Lokpal Act and the law governing the functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation to ensure there is no requirement of "quorum" in the respective selection panels for choosing the anti-corruption ombudsman or the CBI chief.
The Lokpal was functioning without its regular chief since Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27, 2022.
An official said Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, a judicial member of Lokpal, has been given additional charge of the post of chairperson.
The government on Thursday gave ex post-facto approval to some official amendments to the Lokpal Bill moved in the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.
Taking the first step towards appointment of Lokpal, the government has decided to modify rules to give more powers to the search committee mandated to recommend names for appointment of chairperson and members of the anti-corruption body.
Satyavrat Chaturvedi, chairman of the select committee on Lokpal, did not inform many of the Opposition parties about the meeting to be held on Monday
The letters by Hazare and Gandhi were released by the All India Congress Committee on Tuesday, on a day the Bill was slated to come up for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha.
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.
A Parliamentary panel examining the Lokpal bill may recommend that the proposed anti-corruption watchdog be a single window stop for probing all corruption complaints against government functionaries by ending multiplicity of investigating agencies to investigate graft cases.
The Centre has declined to divulge details of persons who have applied for the posts of chairperson and members of anti-corruption body Lokpal, saying these are "personal" in nature and cannot be disclosed.
The much-hyped Lokpal Bill will be delayed further with the government on Wednesday saying it will bring the measure in the Rajya Sabha in the budget session with required amendments in the light of the report of the Select Committee.
In yet another embarrassment to the government, former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas on Monday turned down the offer to head Lokpal search committee, days after jurist Fali Nariman opted out of the panel.
The search committee will forward the names to the selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India or his nominee, Lok Sabha Speaker, the leader of the largest opposition party and an eminent jurist.
Raising strong objections to the "highly improper" procedure adopted by the Union government in making key appointments to the posts of Lokpal, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley has charged the department of personnel with diluting the role of the Selection and Search Committees.
While the Centre said that the amendment bill is pending in Parliament to include the leader of largest opposition party, a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said that Parliament, by not amending the law, cannot frustrate the mandate for appointment of Lokpal.
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.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley has written to activist Anna Hazare, who is currently on an indefinite fast to demand the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
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 Samajwadi Party on Friday said it will strongly oppose the Lokpal Bill in Parliament, holding it was against the very basis of democracy.
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