The contentious Lokpal Bill draft was approved by the Union
Cabinet on Thursday.
The Bill would now be introduced in Parliament during the
monsoon session beginning next week. The Bill excludes the prime minister from the
purview of the Lokpal. However, a final decision
on the matter could still be taken by
Parliament and its standing committee. Minister of State for PMO V. Narayanasamy said
though the prime minister wanted to come under
the purview of the Lokpal, the Cabinet decided to
keep the post out of its ambit. Once the prime minister
demits the office, he would come under the Lokpal purview, he said. Senior judiciary has also been left out of the ambit of Lokpal. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika
Soni said the Lokpal committee would be headed
by the chairman with eight members to assist him.
The chairman would be from judiciary.
Only a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired
chief justice of a high court would be considered
for the chairman's post. Moreover, the candidate
should also have at least 25 years of experience on anti-corruption policies. Fifty per cent of the Lokpal committee members
would be from the judiciary, Soni said. The non -judiciary members of the committee should be of impeccable integrity, the Bill says.
The Lokpal Bill was part of the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA's) common minimum programme.
Ahead of the Cabinet meeting, the civil society headed
by anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare had written
to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee insisting its version
of the Lokpal Bill should also be presented before the Cabinet along with the government's
version. The civil society has been demanding that
the prime minister and the entire judiciary be brought under the ambit of Lokpal. |