Seven meetings and a stalemate. What now for the Lokpal Bill? It’s War Out There Seven meetings on, government and civil society reps drafting the Lokpal bill are split on four key issues Ambit     * Civil society: PM and Supreme and High Court judges should be brought under Lokpal’s purview     * Government: This is constitutionally untenable; PM should get immunity or should be investigated with adequate safeguards Scope     * Civil society: MPs can...

The 1985 Lokpal Bill destroyed the raison d'etre of the institution of an ombudsman, but all successive governments copied it. PUBLIC anger was understandably aroused over the gross delay by Parliament in the last 40 years to enact a Lokpal Bill and with the toothless one that the government sponsored. It is not widely known that the delay was aggravated by deception and fraud in 1985. It was, however, emulated by...

HRD minister Kapil Sibal has termed the draft PAC report on 2G spectrum allocation as "not a report" because it has not been adopted by the parliamentary committee, but said it is for Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to decide on the matter. "The PAC chairman (Murli Manohar Joshi) himself said he had adjourned the meeting. So obviously for a report to be adopted, it has to be adopted either unanimously...

Shanti Bhushan denies allegations on undervaluation of property Ahead of the first meeting of the newly-formed joint committee on the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill here, Anna Hazare-led members said here on Friday that they wanted the draft Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by the civil society as the “working or the base draft.” The joint committee, chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and co-chaired by former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan, is meeting here on...

Important amendment in Right to Free and Compulsory Education Amendment Bill could not be taken up in Rajya Sabha on Friday. The Bill sought to treat children with disabilities as disadvantaged group under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. While the Left was keen on the Bill's passage, BJP said there was not enough time to discuss it. The party wanted a four-hour discussion on the Bill, whereas Left said it...