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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | After a long 46-year wait, India finally has a lokpal

After a long 46-year wait, India finally has a lokpal

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published Published on Dec 19, 2013   modified Modified on Dec 19, 2013
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: After a 46-year wait, India is set to get a lokpal after the Lok Sabha on Wednesday took barely an hour to pass the landmark legislation to create a powerful anti-corruption ombudsman amid sustained disruptions by anti-Telangana MPs.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi introduced a note of urgency in the proceedings right at the start, crisply asking law minister Kapil Sibal to "keep it short" as he referred to prolonged discussions that preceded the bill.

Disturbances in the House seem to weigh on Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar who guillotined the debate and swiftly put amendments to the Lokpal bill passed by the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday to vote and declared the legislation as passed.

After eight failed attempts to pass a Lokpal Bill in the past, Parliament finally gave its seal of approval to a powerful ombudsman. The bill has been drafted and redrafted by two parliamentary committees and now enjoys strong bi-partisan support.

The lokpal will be empowered to investigate complaints of graft against the highest political authority, including the Prime Minister and his cabinet, and will be able to supervise the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at every stage of a probe.

Samajwadi Party (SP) and Shiv Sena opposed the bill while Biju Janata Dal (BJD) walked out in protest over not being given an opportunity to speak on the bill although the Odisha outfit said it was in support of the Lokpal Bill.

The vote in Lok Sabha completes the process of parliamentary approval and the bill will now be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for notification after which the selection process for the eight-member lokpal will begin.

Despite a few digs at one another, BJP and Congress converged to push the Lokpal Bill through Parliament even as leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj made the point that the "real" credit went to Gandhian activist Anna Hazare.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a brief speech promised that the government is committed to passing no less than six pending anti-corruption legislations while the bill's chief detractor SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav vehemently opposed it.

The chaos in the House made meaningful discussion impossible and a tense parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath even got Sibal to put another legislation to vote, brushing aside the law minister's plea that "it is not my bill".

Speaking on the proposed legislation, Rahul said the country needed an "anti-corruption code'' and it was the 15th Lok Sabha's responsibility to pass legislations that are a part of a "comprehensive anti-corruption framework" of the UPA government.

Swaraj supported the measure but attacked the Congress for rushing to credit Rahul, saying "the people of this country and an old man (Anna Hazare) who has undertaken fast several times deserve the credit."

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

The bill was opposed by SP and Shiv Sena members who walked out to lodge their protest. Strongly criticizing both Congress and BJP, the SP chief said that all development work would grind to a halt. His concerns were echoed by JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav who supported the bill but expressed reservations on the contentious legislation.

A sigh of relief passed through the treasury benches after the bill was passed by voice vote and the House moved on to the next business.

Earlier when the Bill was taken up for discussion and passage, Trinamool Congress member Sougata Roy raised a point of order saying that the measure passed by the Rajya Sabha had been circulated among Lok Sabha members only today. He said that as per rules, a two-day notice should be given to members before taking up any legislation passed by the other House.

Disposing of his point of order, the Speaker said she had consented for waiving the two-day requirement and the bill was laid on the table of the House this morning itself.

Throughout the debate on the Lokpal Bill, supporters and opponents of Telangana continued raising slogans in the well.


The Times of India, 19 December, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/After-a-long-46-year-wait-India-finally-has-a-lokpal/articleshow/27607765.cms


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