New Delhi: The much-hyped Lokpal Bill will be delayed further with the government today saying it will bring the measure in the Rajya Sabha in the Budget Session with required amendments in the light of the report of the Select Committee.
Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said in the Upper House that the Bill will be brought in the next session after the Opposition protested over the non-tabling of the report of the Select Committee
Social activist and Lokpal Bill crusader Anna Hazare has been admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi tweeted about Anna's health saying that he has been admitted in MedantaMedicity hospital and is under intensive care.
https://twitter.com/thekiranbedi/status/276919713039269888
https://twitter.com/thekiranbedi/status/276918735820976128
Former Team Anna member and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal also confirmed this on Twitter and wished Anna a fast recovery.
New Delhi: Lokpal will have power to grant sanction to initiate prosecution against a public servant, a parliamentary committee has recommended, seeking to amend a provision in the bill which said no previous sanction was required for the ombudsman to bring charges.
The recommendation of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Lokpal comes against the backdrop of the stand taken by the government that the provision in the Lokpal Bill to do away with previous sanction was against the principle of protection.
...The proposal to do away with the requirement of previous sanction...where prosecution is proposed by Lokpal, would be against the principle of protection needed for the public servants, the Law Ministry had told the Committee when it was scrutinising the Bill passed by Lok Sabha .
The constitutional protection available to civil servants under Articles 311 and 320, clause 3(C) of the Constitution would also be adversely affected by the provisions of the proposed law, the Ministry had said.
9.20 am: Draft Lokpal bill to be tabled in Rajya Sabha
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, is scheduled to table the Parliamentary select committee's draft Lokpal bill in the Rajya Sabha once Parliament resumes today. That is of course, assuming that any work actually gets done, and the sessions in the Upper House do not suffer the same fate they did yesterday.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day at 12 noon yesterday after Opposition MPs created a ruckus in the house.
After its passage in the Lok Sabha last year, the Lokpal bill faced opposition hurdles in the Rajya Sabha on various provisions, following which it was referred to the Select Committee. The panel, which was to submit its report during the monsoon session, adopted it on 19 November.
Forget the Lokpal Bill. It won't be passed anytime in the foreseeable future. And if, by some strange turn of events, it does get passed, rest assured it will not only be absolutely toothless, it will also be inherently resistant to any future attempts at installing dentures to improve the bite capabilities.
After all, who in his right mind, would augment the bite capabilities of a watch-dog, whose first instinct would be to tear off some flesh from the master's own over-sized derriere?
Before I present the argument in support of those seemingly cynical words, let us go back about 2,400 years.
New Delhi: The much-hyped Lokpal bill could be tabled in Rajya Sabha in the ongoing monsoon session if a parliamentary panel looking into the legislation gives its report before the end of the session, the government said today.
I am told that the select committee could probably give its report on Lokpal bill by 3 September. If it happens, we will bring the bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters here.
