Govt opposes inclusion of PM in Lokpal Bill

Sharp differences came to the surface at a meeting of the drafting committee for Lokpal bill on Monday with the government strongly opposing proposals for inclusion of Prime Minister, higher judiciary and acts of MPs inside Parliament under its purview.

Anna Hazare, one of the members of the committee, who is spearheading the campaign for a strong and effective Lokpal bill, said that he was not hopeful of the government meeting its deadline of June 30 for preparing the bill.

At the meeting held under the Chairmanship of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, contentious issues came up for discussion in the committee for the first time. Arvind Kejriwal and Prasahant Bhushan, both civil society members of the committee, said except on one issue of keeping citizen charter and public grievances under the jurisdiction of Lokpal, the government opposed the demands for bringing the Prime Minister, higher judiciary and the corrupt acts of MPs inside Parliament under the ambit of the Lokpal.

They said the government's proposals on Monday were "worse" than what it had proposed in its first bill, which had been "condemned and rejected". 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.