The Joint Drafting Committee on the Lokpal Bill has decided to send two versions of the Bill to the Cabinet by June 30.
“There was no consensus on basic issues. So, two versions of the Bill will be sent to the Cabinet,” the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, told reporters after the meeting. The panel will meet again on June 20 and 21 for further discussions. Civil society members on the panel, however, were unhappy.
Indicating a toning down of the stand-off between Government and civil society members, the joint panel meeting on Wednesday, however, skirted ‘contentious' issues such as bringing the Prime Minister and higher judiciary in the Lokpal's ambit and restricted itself to other matters. “We want the 11-member Lokpal to be an independent investigative body, not under Government control. By suggesting otherwise, an effort is being made to kill the Lokpal even before its birth,” said social activist, Mr Arvind Kejriwal.
The meeting took place a day after name-calling by both sides, with the Congress terming Mr Anna Hazare as an “unelected tyrant” and civil society members referring to Congress members on the panel as “democratic dictators.”
War of words
In the political sphere, too, the war of words heated up with BJP President, Mr Nitin Gadkari, taunting Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi. “Sonia Gandhi says she will fight corruption. It is like Pakistan saying we will fight terrorism,” he is reported to have said in Kolkata.
The Congress hit back and accused the BJP of reducing its platform to “gutter-level politics.” Party spokesperson, Ms Jayanti Natarjan, demanded an apology from Mr Gadkari.
The BJP also sought an explanation from the Prime Minister on the taped conversations of corporate lobbyist, Ms Niira Radia.
The tapes allegedly show that the then Finance Minister, Mr P Chidambaram, played a role in the 2G spectrum scam.