Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare on Friday warned the government against any hanky panky on the Lokpal bill or else he would again undertake a fast unto death.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and discussed various issues relating to the Jan Lokpal Bill. Sources said Kejriwal apprised Jung of his government's views on introduction of the bill in the assembly.
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.
There is nothing wrong in bringing the prime minister under the jurisdiction of Lokpal as like others he is also a public servant, former Supreme Court Judge and erstwhile Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde said on Wednesday.
Two key legislations Lokpal Bill and Food Security Bill -- are expected to be taken up by the Union Cabinet on Sunday after which they will be brought to Parliament next week.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee going into the Lokpal Bill has recommended keeping the judiciary and the MPs' conduct in the House out of its purview and rejected the demand for hiving off the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation to come under its jurisdiction.
Urging the government not to enact a law against the interest of states, Communist Party of India - Marxist lawmaker Sitaram Yechury on Thursday accused the corporates of funding elections, and said that the graft cannot be tackled without including India Inc under the review of Lokpal.
Pressing for tabling of the Lokpal Bill on Wednesday itself in the Rajya Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left sought to corner the government which was not ready for immediate discussion on it.
Maintaining that it was against the "principle of protection", the Law Ministry has opposed a provision in the Lokpal Bill which gives the ombudsman power to file charge sheet against a public servant without the prior sanction of competent authority.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Thursday contended that the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations on Lokpal Bill will only help in making the ombdusman an "Enquiry Pal" with no powers at all. Bedi said Anna Hazare and his supporters did not fight for such an anti-corruption watchdog.
Smarting under Opposition attack over the issue of Lokpal Bill, Congress today insisted that the measure is not dead and will be back soon.
Neerja Chowdhury on the various theories doing the rounds on why several Congress MPs we missing during the vote on the constitutional amendment bill.
If quota in Lokpal is taken off the Yadav leaders will object it, and if it remains, the BJP will oppose it. This situation is advantageous for the Congress to take credit and pass the blame, reports Sheela Bhatt.
Attacking the government for keeping the Central Bureau of Investigation out of Lokpal, Anna Hazare on Wednesday accused it of "cheating" the people by bringing a weak Bill to "save" corrupt politicians.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to seek amendments in the Lokpal Bill if its suggestions and concerns on the legislation are not incorporated. This decision was taken at a meeting of BJP parliamentary party chaired by L K Advani and attended by other senior party leaders, where the Lokpal Bill was discussed.
Janata Party chief Dr Subramanian Swamy slammed Team Anna on Thursday for 'insisting a new law to deal with corruption and bring the premier investigating agency under the Lokpal'. The government's Lokpal Bill is likely to be introduced in the Parliament on Thursday afternoon, which has already been opposed by Team Anna.
Rediff.com reporters spoke to employees of the lower bureaucracy to know what they think of all the commotion surrounding their inclusion in the Lokpal bill.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Wednesday asked as to what was stopping ruling Congress from declaring its resolve to create an effective Lokpal through a special session of Parliament or an ordinance in case Parliament by any chance is stalled.
The Centre should talk to all political parties before arriving at a consensus on the Lokpal Bill, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said and stuck to her stand that it should be left to the states to set up Lokayauktas on models they choose.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Thursday justified her objection to exclusion of prime minister from the purview of the Lokpal bill saying the government has given no reasons for his exemption and insisted that nobody was above criminal law.
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 Monday expressed the hope that cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who entered Parliament as a Rajya Sabha member, will raise his voice on the Lokpal issue and against corruption. "We welcome and congratulate him. Sachin should raise his voice against corruption and also in favour of the Lokpal issue. We will keep supporting him from outside," he said.
In a bid to allay concerns of states and political parties alike, the government appears to have decided to delink the provision of Lokayuktas in states from the Lokpal Bill.
As Parliament takes up the debate on the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, on Tuesday, the Congress party will try to ensure three things.
Questioning the Bharatiya Janata Party's "silence" over Lokpal Bill, Congress on Friday accused the opposition party of "political opportunism" and dared it to spell out its stand on the demand for bringing the prime minister and higher judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal.
Rubbishing Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal's contention that the Lokpal bill under consideration in Parliament was weak, activist Anna Hazare has said that "if anyone feels there are shortcomings in the bill after it is passed, they should fast for it."
The Anna Hazare team on Wednesday met Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat in New Delhi to explain the civil society's position on the Lokpal Bill ahead of the all party meeting on the issue.
Trinamool Congress on Thursday said it will support the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha if it is brought without the clause about appointing Lokayuktas in the states.
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.
Stating that the government is shocked at the comments made by veteran social activist Anna Hazare's team, Union Human Resource and Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said steps as these would only slow down the drafting process of the Lokpal bill.
The Foundation for Democratic Reforms and Lok Satta, along with some organisations will arrange a round table conference in New Delhi on April 24. The conference is for a consensus on the creation of a powerful and independent Lok Pal at the national level and Lokayuktas in states.
The Lok Sabha is on Tuesday discussing on the much-talked-about 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.
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.
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.
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