Par panel to go into Lokpal unlikely to meet today

New Delhi, Sep 7: The much-talked about meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee going into the Lokpal issue is unlikely to be held on Sep 7 (today) as the panel has not been reconstituted after its term expired on August 31.

The Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Personnel and Public Grievances is among the several Parliamentary panels whose term has expired and the process is on for their reconstitution.

Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman constitute these Committees by seeking names from different political parties about their nominees for the Committee memberships allotted to them.

While the Congress and the BJP being major parties find representation to their MPs in almost all the Committees, the smaller parties have to remain content with the number of membership offered to them as per their strength.

Abhishek Singhvi, heading the earlier Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Personnel and Public Grievances, said that he was awaiting a notification on the formation of the Committee till this evening so as to go ahead with the meeting tomorrow but it has not happened.

Singhvi is expected to be the Chairman of the reconstituted Committee as Congress has decided to renominate all its members in the panel. Singhvi was made the head of the Committee two months back when Jayanthi Natarajan was made a minister.

Another party spokesperson Manish Tewari who had recused himself from the Committee has also been renominated. Tewari had created a controversy two days before Anna Hazare started his fast on August 16 by calling his "corrupt" for which he later apologised.

PTI