-The Economic Times   The government's version of the Lokpal Bill gets most things right. The entire executive, represented by its senior layers, including the Prime Minister, comes under its purview. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which deals with all kinds of crime and not just corruption, is rightly kept outside the proposed Lokpal's administrative control but will investigate cases referred to it by the Lokpal. Nor is there any attempt to...

-The Indian Express Anna Hazare has accused the Centre of “cheating the people” by trying to enact a weak Lokpal, to “save” corrupt politicians. Meanwhile, Prashant Bhushan contends that the CBI chief’s selection was bound to be problematic, given that it would be decided by two politicians (“the prime minister and someone who hopes to someday be prime minister”) and the Chief Justice of India (previous holders of that office having...

-The Hindu   Rajya Sabha MP and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi chaired the 30-member parliamentary panel that presented its voluminous report earlier this month on the Lokpal Bill 2011. The report has points of divergence with both the official Lokpal Bill draft and the Team Anna version. (The Union Cabinet on Tuesday night approved a Bill for the creation of the Lokpal with constitutional status that will have no control over the...

C & D staff will also come under watchdog Refusing to be cowed down by pressure exerted by Team Anna, the government stood its ground on maintaining the investigative independence of the Central Bureau of Investigation, as the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cleared the draft of the controversial Lokpal Bill late on Tuesday evening. It is now likely to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The...

At a time when it is debating with Team Anna over CBI's inclusion within the Lokpal's ambit, the Centre has moved the Supreme Court seeking to blunt petitions in various high courts challenging the June 9 notification exempting the investigating agency from the purview of Right to Information Act. The ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension had issued the June 9 notification to include CBI, the National Investigating Agency...