Campaign against Bhushans seen as a bid to scuttle proposed Bill Prashant Bhushan has appeared for social causes without charging any fees: NAPM “His voice against Operation Green Hunt has also raised hackles in certain quarters” Even as the Union Finance Minister and chairman of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, Pranab Mukherjee, said over the weekend that the controversy surrounding some panel members would not impact the formulation of the Bill,...

“All members will continue on panel” Civil society members on the Lokpal Bill drafting committee on Saturday decided to stay together despite the smear campaign against some members, with Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde declaring that “all members will continue to work in panel until the proceedings are over.” A two-hour meeting of the activists, chaired by Anna Hazar here, also decided to write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Justice...

Civil society member on the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Arvind Kejriwal said at a news conference here on Saturday that all the members on the panel were ready for an independent inquiry into allegations against them. Asked whether Mr. Shanti Bhushan had offered to step down from the panel at Saturday's meeting, he said, “Nothing is going to come out from his leaving the panel. We have offered ourselves to any...

Amid the billowing controversies surrounding the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh Saturday backed a demand for a Dalit representative on the panel while central minister Salman Khurshid ruled out any changes in the committee. Singh backed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's demand for a Dalit representative on the 10-member government-civil society committee, though he has been her bitter critic. "The demand is just," Singh said, adding nothing...

Anna Hazare's fast puts Jan Lokpal on the nation's agenda, but doubts remain whether it will help root out corruption. A FUTURE historian who browses the archives of Indian newspapers and news websites from April 5 to 10 will be confused over how to characterise the groundswell of public support across the country for the “fast unto death” undertaken at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi, by a social activist not...