Manish Tewari may continue on panel going into Lokpal issue

New Delhi, Sep 2: Congress spokesperson, Manish Tewari, who recused himself from Parliament's Standing Committee going into Lokpal issue, could continue as a member of the panel with the party on Sep 1 saying it is yet to decide on the matter.

"Manish Tewari has expressed his views but the party has taken no such decision. The members of Standing Committees are appointed by Lok Sabha Speaker and Chairman of Rajya Sabha on the recommendations of political parties," said AICC general secretary, Janardan Dwivedi.

His comments came in reply to questions about Tewari's announcement on Aug 31 that he recuses himself from the Committee as he did want to cast a shadow on the deliberations of Lokpal Bill.

Commenting on Tewari's offer to recuse, a senior Congress leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that while Tewari may have expressed his sentiments, the party does not agree to his decision to opt out of the panel.

Sources in the party said Tewari, a senior lawyer, will be asked to continue in the Committee, which is to be reconstituted in the next few days as its term came to an end on August 31. The leader termed Tewari''s decision to recuse himself from the Committee as "unnecessary" saying he should have waited for the party to take a decision on it.

"He should not have taken this step and faced things boldly. There was no need for him to recuse himself from the committee and he should have talked to party leadership before taking any such step," he said.

The deliberations over the Lokpal issue in the Standing Committee headed by Abhishek Singhvi, are expected to be quite stormy with serious disagreements between Government and Civil society members on many provisions of Jan Lokpal bill. Hence Congress would like to see its legal brains there.

PTI