Lokpal may come up for discussion in ongoing Monsoon session

New Delhi, Aug 19: Government is pushing for consideration of the contentious anti-corruption Lokpal Bill during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.

"I have given a notice for discussion on Lokpal in the Rajya Sabha. The Business Advisory Committee will decide on the date for discussion," Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy said.

He said the government wants the legislation to be passed and it may be taken up by the Rajya Sabha during the current session which closes this month end. The Lok Pal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was passed in Lok Sabha on December 27, 2011.

The bill was then referred to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee, which was set up in May last year, amid sharp differences among various political parties and civic society. The Committee report was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in November last year.

Acting on the Committee's recommendations, the Union Cabinet had on January 31 approved amendments to the bill, delinking it from the setting up of Lokayuktas in the states and transferring powers of sanction of prosecution against public servant to the ombudsman.

The approval to the official amendments has paved the way for consideration of the bill afresh by the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Monsoon Session.

After getting a nod from the Upper House, the bill with amendments will go back for fresh approval to Lok Sabha where it has already been passed. The bill could not get through Rajya Sabha amid an abrupt adjournment of the winter session last year and in this year's budget session.

The bill provides for the establishment of a body of Lokpal for the Centre and Lokayukta for states to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries. It is pertinent to mention that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in his this year's Independence Day speech said the Bill will be a major step towards cleaning the political system.

"We have introduced the Lokpal Bill in Parliament. The Lok Sabha has passed the Bill and it is now before the Rajya Sabha. This legislation will be a major step towards making our political system clean," Singh had said.

PTI