Salman Khurshid denies any changes in the Lokpal committee

New Delhi, April 23: Salman Khurshid, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs has on April 23, ruled out any changes in the "Lokpal Bill" drafting committee and said that the government is looking forward to receive inputs from Justice Santosh Hegde on the bill.

The union minister said, "I value his (Hegde) contributions enormously and hold high respect for him. I hope he will be able to be with us. We want his contributions. We (government) are looking forward to having his inputs and we sincerely hope so."

Replying about the possibility of having any change in the committee, he said, "there is no question of changing the committee members."

The union minister also said, "Let us examine the bill on its merit, rather than discussing the characters of people...I, along with other nine colleagues are concerned about forming a good bill...we will not be distracted by any controversies or claims outside the committee. These are independent matters (Bhushan CD-controversy) and apart from what we are doing in the committee."

Replying to a question on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's demand to include an "apolitical scheduled caste member" in the committee, he said, "we should trust the ten members. Let them present their product...we should give them a chance. After the product comes out, we can see and examine it and put forth our objections if any."

Earlier, Justice Santosh Hegde who had threatened to quit the Lokpal panel after being upset over "vilification campaign", has now accepted the clarifications issued by Congress leader Digvijay Singh. He informed that he will reconsider his stand and any decision on the committee made by Anna Hazare is acceptable to him.

OneIndia News