Sanction by higher authority for probe to be waived The lokpal bill joint drafting committee on Saturday moved towards formulation of a draft with civil society members and government representatives agreeing to set up an independent authority that will be endowed with financial and administrative autonomy. Although the sticky issue of including the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary within the ambit of the Bill was set aside for “further discussion,'' the...

While discussing the question of including the higher judiciary under the proposed anti-corruption lokpal bill, government representatives on the joint draft committee on Saturday pointed out that two former Chief Justices, M.N. Venkatachaliah and J.S. Verma, had opined in a public consultation that the higher judiciary should be kept out of the ambit of the bill. Members of the civil society cited instances where applications to look into charges of corruption...

Lawyer and civil society member on the lokpal bill joint drafting panel Prashant Bhushan on Thursday denied that he had spoken at all to the former Samajwadi Party member, Amar Singh, or to anyone else from his office or home. “Not at all,'' he said when asked by The Hindu if he had spoken to Mr. Singh on Thursday and tried to “gag'' him as claimed by the latter at a...

Joint drafting panel on lokpal bill holds second meeting; public consultations after agreement on basic principles In the second round of discussions in the joint drafting committee on the lokpal bill here on Monday, members of civil society invoked the United Nations Convention on Corruption to stress that the underlying principle of the anti-corruption law should be to have an independent body that covers the highest executive and the judiciary. The...

Prickly issues like the inclusion of the PMO or the judiciary within the ambit of the Jan lokpal bill were left out in favour of a broader discussion on the proposed legislation by the joint drafting committee on Monday. These and other controversial issues could come up in the May 7 meeting. The joint drafting committee met for the first time after a slew of corruption charges had rocked civil society members...