For the bribe takers, the bill proposes to increase the punishment to a minimum of three years of imprisonment, which may extend to seven years, besides fine.
Sultan Masood, the father of murdered Right To Information activist Shehla Masood, claimed on Thursday that he did not expect justice for his daughter and as a person belonging to the "lower-middle class" he was powerless to demand an effective probe.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar reacted sharply to Team Anna's remarks on state government's draft bill on Lokayukta, describing it a "copy" of the Centre's Lokpal draft, by saying that he did not require a certificate from any one.
Vicky Nanjappa explores Justice Santosh Hegde's report on illegal mining in Karnataka and finds out a shocking case of abuse of power and guidelines in Bellary
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa finally walked free after spending 23 days in jail on Tuesday. His legal team completed all the formalities and also got the release order copy signed by the special Lokayukta judge who is originally seized off this matter.
On Wednesday, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh were in Bengaluru to oversee a special secret ballot election process within BJP MLAs from Karnataka to choose the next chief minister. The two candidates were D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagdish Shettar.
Another interesting part of the report is the one on illegalities in M/s Janthakal Enterprises. It talks about Daya Nayak and H D Kumraswamy trying to exercise their clout and how iron ore was exported to Pakistan illegally.
Amid intense speculation on the fate of the indicted Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde will submit his report on mining scam to the State government on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party high command, meanwhile, has indicated that it could accept Yeddyurappa's option of setting up an internal committee to look into the allegations against the CM and his sons. This would give the BJP time.
"Opposition parties hoping that I would quit would be disappointed," Yeddyurappa told media persons at the Bangalore Airport, on arrival from Mauritius, where he was on a six-day holiday with his family
In the wake of Karnataka Lokayukta's indictment of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on the illegal mining issue, Congress on Thursday gunned for his removal, but a defensive Bharatiya Janata Party said the report had "lost sanctity" as it has been leaked.
The Karnataka government is contemplating the next course of action in the wake of the damning revelations of the report by state Lokayukta Santosh Hegde about the involvement of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and several ministers of the state in the lucrative illegal mining racket.
Karnataka has been quiet for a while since political tempers have temporarily stopped flying around. However, what everyone is waiting for with a bated breath is the release of the second report on illegal mining, which many have termed as a block buster.
While former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa may have to wait another day to find out if he would be let out on bail or not, his sons however got some relief from the high court which stayed two conditions imposed on them.
The legal team of former Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yeddyurappa on Monday will apply for bail before the Karnataka high court. A member of his legal team informed that the bail plea to be filed on Monday would also cite medical reasons, as he was admitted in hospital after he complained of chest pain.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday questioned the Centre's decision of sending two drafts of Lokpal Bill for consideration and demanded that the government be clear before seeking states' views on the proposed legislation.
The Public Accounts Committee of Goa assembly has recommended an enquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation or the lokayukta against all those indicted by it in the illegal mining cases.
Former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on Wednesday suggested that corporates and NGOs should also be brought under the purview of the Jan Lokpal bill.
The Lokpal Bill has always appeared to be a jinxed affair, the history of last 40 years shows.
The government on Wednesday night exuded confidence to get the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, despite not having a clear majority.
It will be a touch-and-go affair in the Upper House, remarked a senior Congress leader underlining that there were many ifs and buts for the bill to be passed
As the government prepared to table the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha, its key partner Trinamool Congress on Wednesday indicated that it could act difficult as it had objections to the provision on setting up of Lokayuktas in states
The differences between the Congress and the BJP are too obvious and it seems, as expected, this Parliament is a divided house on the issue of fighting corruption.
Former Supreme Court Justice N Santhosh Hegde, the current Lokayukta of Karnataka, outlines ten ways to stem the rot of corruption before it corrodes the very foundation of our nation.
Lambasting the United Progressive Alliance government for hitting out at social crusaders like Anna Hazare and Ramdev, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday challenged it to dissolve the Lok Sabha and face mid-term elections.
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.
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.
When the powerful Reddy brothers of Karnataka staged a coup against B S Yeddyurappa a couple of months back, they had said something very important, "Our final decision would depend on what Sushma amma says."
Modi has a real challenge if the allegations of corruption pick up momentum. Modi was struggling to improve his image with the minorities but now he will have to convince the majority that his deals were clean and he is above board, says Sheela Bhatt.
The mining scam in Karnataka brought down BS Yeddyurappa from the chief minister's seat. Now it threatens to expose the state's 3 former chief minister S M Krishna, H D Kumaraswamy and N Dharam Singh. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Ganapathy was found dead at Madikeri in Karnataka on July 7 last year.
The way appears to have been cleared for Anna Hazare to end his fast possibly on Friday when Parliament will discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill along with other civil society drafts on the subject after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the ice-breaking offer.
Team Anna member and former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice (retd) N Santosh Hegde on Tuesday appealed to Anna Hazare to end his eight-day fast, saying everyone is "honestly" concerned about his health.
Justice Santosh Hegde has become a very popular face at the protests against corruption at Freedom Park in Bengaluru.
Justice Santosh Hegde has become a very popular face at the protests against corruption at Freedom Park in Bengaluru.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday made it clear that Anna Hazare and his team could have moved the court if they had problems with the conditions imposed on the activist's proposed fast by the Delhi police. But given the glaring loopholes in the hasty action taken against Hazare, the government seems to be on a very weak footing.
"We propose to cover organisations like ISRO and arms deals under the purview of Jan Lokpal as they are important from internal security angle, besides the Prime Minister above all who will come under its jurisdiction," Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde, part of the 10-member Joint Drafting Committee on Lokpal Bill, told media persons in Bengaluru.
The two lawyers, who had first moved the Governor seeking sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister, moved the special court with two separate petitions.
Twenty one legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka were sworn in at the Raj Bhavan on Monday. While the new cabinet looks more or less the same, the most important exlusion is that of the Reddy brothers and their close aide B Sriramulu.
In an interim order, the Supreme Court has permitted the state-run NMDC to operate two mines in Bellary district. The NMDC, which has been granted leases by the state government, was permitted by the Supreme Court to extend the production of iron ore to the tune of one million tonnes per month from Saturday. Incidentally, the NMDC finds a mention in the Lokayukta report due to alleged lease violations.