Government opposes inclusion of PM in Lokpal Bill: Kejriwal |
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New Delhi, May 30 ANI: Social activist and member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, Arvind Kejriwal, on Monday said the government has opposed the suggestion of civil society members to include the Prime Minister under the purview of the Lokpal Bill. Talking to reporters, after a meeting of the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill, Kejriwal said: "The government was also opposed to bringing the conduct of Members of Parliament under the purview of Lokpal." Kejriwal said even the latest bill of the government had kept Prime Minister under the purview of Lokpal, but the government has gone back on it. Kejriwal said the government also wanted defence personnel to be kept out of the purview of the Bill. Meanwhile, the government has decided to write to the states and political parties to seek their opinion on these "issues of divergence" and get back to them at the next meeting on June 6.inister for Information and Technology Kapil Sibal said there was a need to take the view of the states since Lokayukts have to be appointed there. In an earlier meeting, there was a consensus on seven of the 34 points submitted by the civil society members. There was an agreement on empowering the Lokpal to initiate a suo motu probe into allegations of corruption against ministers, parliamentarians and senior bureaucrats. Currently, a minister can be prosecuted only after sanction from the Prime Minister. The Lok Sabha Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Chairman has to give the nod in case of an action against a Member of Parliament. Former union minister Shanti Bhushan, a member of Hazare's team and co-chair of the committee, in a letter to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had earlier suggested that the government first present its views on all remaining points and possible solutions on issues on which there were divergent views. The latest version has a new clause, Clause 13-C, which gives wide powers to 'an appropriate bench of the Lokpal' to approve interception and monitoring of messages or data or voice transmitted through telephones, internet or any other medium as covered under the India Telegraph Act, read with the Information and Technology Act 2000. Another new provision in this draft is for the setting up of a separate 'prosecution wing' for the office of Lokpal, which is already envisaged to have powers to investigate. The draft was circulated to government representatives during the Committee's fist meeting on April 16. ANI Posted by aniin on Tuesday May 31 reply Comments |
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