The Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha on the Lokpal Bill will hold “wider consultations” with Government officials and the public on the controversial anti-corruption legislation.
The first meeting of the panel, headed by senior Congress MP, Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi, decided to summon the secretaries of Law, Personnel and Home Ministries on the legislation.
The Standing Committee on Law and Justice had submitted a report on the Bill after consulting jurists, officials and activists. Sources in the panel said the select committee also wants to hold discussions with people with various views.
There are indications that the committee may take an extension of three more months to complete the proceedings on the Bill. The Lokpal Bill has been in the public domain for almost five decades.
The next meeting of the panel will be held in the first week of July. The Law Secretary, Mr B.A. Agarwal, will be summoned before the panel for a briefing on the Bill. The elders have given more than 100 amendments.
The Bill could not be passed in the Upper House due to differences raised by members from both the Opposition and Treasury benches.
The Select Committee was formed during the Budget session of Parliament as the Government could not solve the differences despite several all-party meetings chaired by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. The key contentions are on setting up of Lokayukta in States, the purview of the Lokpal and on the appointment of members in the ombudsman.
The panel will soon publish an announcement inviting comments and suggestions on the Bill. “We will hold discussions with all stakeholders,” a member said, when asked whether representatives from Team Anna Hazare will be summoned before the panel.
“At the moment, we plan to hear the views of officials in the Government,” he said, adding that officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Central Vigilance Commission could also be summoned.