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India- Rajya Sabha passes Lokpal bill

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The Bill, which was already passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2011, will now be considered by the Lower House afresh on Wednesday as it has undergone a number of official amendments.
After much delay, the landmark Lokpal bill was on Tuesday passed by the Rajya Sabha, marking a step closer to enactment of a new law under which an anti-corruption ombudsman would be set up.

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, which has been pending in the House for the last two years, was approved by voice vote after a five-hour debate.

The Samajwadi Party, which was strongly opposed to such a measure, boycotted the House proceedings after staging a walkout as soon as the debate began on Tuesday morning.

The proposed law, aimed at dealing with the menace of corruption, will bring under its purview the Prime Minister with certain safeguards and other public servants.

The Bill, which was already passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2011, will now be considered by the Lower House afresh on Wednesday as it has undergone a number of official amendments.

The Bill was brought back to the Upper House after being considered by the Parliamentary Select Committee which recommended several amendments to make it widely acceptable among political parties.

Among the amendments accepted by the government are delinking of the mandatory creation of Lokayuktas by the State governments, one of the provisions which had stalled the passage of the Bill in December 2011.

Replying to the debate, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said it was a “historic” day and hoped that all states would pass similar legislations to set up Lokayuktas modelled on this Bill.

“The Centre can’t give directions to the States,” he said, allaying apprehensions that the Union government was dictating.

Mr. Sibal, who had initiated discussion on the issue, said the law alone would not eliminate corruption but it could help deal with those who are corrupt.

On the issue of bringing the Prime Minister under the purview of the new law, he said the overall consensus was in this favour although there were some “discordant individual views” disfavouring it.

The government accepted all but three recommendations of the Select Committee.

The accepted recommendations included not transferring a CBI official investigating a case referred by the Lokpal.

The selection process of the Lokpal has also been changed.

It now provides for appointment of the Lokpal by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, besides an eminent jurist appointed by the President on their recommendation.

Among the recommendations not accepted by the government was an accused public servant should not be given any chance to present his or her view before initiation of investigation.

The government said the accused official should be given a chance to be heard before initiation of formal investigation but the “suspense” element would be maintained in case of search and seizure.

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury had moved an amendment to bring public-private-partnership (PPP) projects but it was defeated overwhelmingly by 151 against 19 votes.

The passage of the Bill had become a mere formality as almost all parties, except SP, were in support.

Mr. Sibal sought to allay any apprehension over the new measure, saying there will be no element of government interference in investigation that would be carried out against corruption under the Lokpal.

“I don’t think it is time to laugh or snigger... it is time for us to rise to the occasion,” said Sibal, who piloted the Bill in place of Minister of State for Personnel V. Narayanasamy who could not attend the proceedings because of his wife’s illness.

He said the government intended to bring more legislations like Prevention of Corruption Bill to fight corruption and they could be passed if the House functions properly.

Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley, while supporting the Bill, said he was happy that the government had accepted all the changes in “this changed environment”.

He did not elaborate but was apparently referring to the drubbing Congress faced in the just-held Assembly elections.

Holding that there is a lot of scope for improvement in this Bill, Mr. Jaitley objected to the provision of religious-based appointments in Lokpal, saying such kind of reservations were not permitted by the Constitution.

Mr. Sibal, however, said the provision was in tune with the Constitution.

Defending the inclusion of judges in the Lokpal panel, Mr. Sibal said it was done as “complex legal” issues are involved.

Lawmakers cannot be part of the Lokpal. Mr. Sibal said it was done to avoid a conflict of interest.

The government also decided to exempt only such bodies or authorities established, constituted or appointed by or under any Central or State or Provincial Act providing for administration of public religious or charitable trusts or endowments or societies for religious or charitable purposes registered under the Societies Registration Act.

The Select Committee had recommended exclusion of bodies and institutions receiving donations from the public from the purview of Lokpal.

The government decided not to accept it and seek an official amendment in the Bill as reported by the Select Committee.

The Committee recommended that in clause 20(2) of the Bill, the seeking of comments from the public servant during the preliminary inquiry should not be mandatory and has accordingly suggested the addition of the word “may” in the said clause.

The government opposed this arguing that affording of an opportunity to the public servant and to the government/ competent authority at this stage, would help clear doubts in several cases and would substantially reduce the number of cases going for regular investigation.

The Select Committee recommended that the power to grant sanction for prosecution of public servants could be shifted to the Lokpal in place of the government. The Select Committee has also recommended that Lokpal may be required to seek comments of the competent authority and the public servant before taking such decision. Government decided to accept this recommendation.

Source: Rajya Sabha passes Lokpal bill - The Hindu
 
If judges sit on the panel then who is going to oversee the corrupt judges???
 
Heartiest Congratulations to all my Indian Brothers and Sisters - Its our first win in our War against Corruption #Historical Indeed :cheers::yahoo::smitten:

But still to all the Congress Supporters - You wont earn a vote out of it in the upcoming General Elections :sick::sick::sick:

not yet. the biggest hurdle will be in LS

As both the Major Political Parties which constitute about 2/3rd Membership of the LS are in favor (BJP and Congress) no problem there - Those rouge SP and RJD chaps can only delay the proceedings of the house not stop the same.... I would like to recall the words of Victor Hugo at this moment:-

No Power on this Earth can stop an Idea whose Time has come...


 
If the congress had done this a year ago, they would have been taking lesser flak now
 
Err....because they are crazy. :cuckoo:

Mate, what is your personal opinion about this bill.. Is this a watered down version of the original with lot of loopholes or is this going to bring changes in Indian politics?
 
Congress and BJP might have millions of flaws but still those two are the only ones who are lil bit bothered about our national interest and welfare of country rest other regional thugs and commies just don't give a shit about it
 
lol....dont know why you folks are cheering.... lokpal will be managed by 5 people of respective govt. so this time lokpal body will be managed by Khangressis
 
Parliament passes Lokpal bill
Parliament on Wednesday passed the Lokpal bill with the Lok Sabha adopting the measure as amended by the Rajya Sabha after a short discussion, amid the din created by members for and against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Members from Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena, opposed the bill and staged a walkout in protest, as their counterparts from other parties, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, supported the measure.

Mr. Gandhi sought extension of the Winter Session to pass six more bills which were “part of the comprehensive anti- corruption framework” of the UPA government. “Lokpal bill alone is not enough to fight corruption. What we need is a comprehensive anti-corruption code. The UPA government has prepared anti-corruption framework.

“Eight new central laws have been brought...We should complete the unfinished work of fighting corruption...Six anti-corruption bills are pending. If necessary, can we not extend this session of Parliament,” Mr Gandhi said as the debate began on the key bill to create an anti-graft ombudsman.

Noting that Lokpal bill was part of this comprehensive framework, he said the RTI law was the first on the UPA list. The others which remain pending are Prevention of Corruption amendment, right to citizens for time-bound delivery of goods and services, public procurement, foreign bribery, judicial accountability and the whistleblowers bills, Mr Gandhi said.

Ms Swaraj supported the measure but attacked the Congress for clamouring to take credit for it, saying “the people of this country and the old man (Anna Hazare) who has undertaken fast several times deserve the credit.”

Earlier, Speaker Meira Kumar allowed the bill, as amended by the Upper House, to be laid and taken up for consideration by Lok Sabha.

Source: Parliament passes Lokpal bill - The Hindu
 
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