A day after the introduction of the anti-graft Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, in the Lok Sabha, sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday felt that the agency's autonomy of investigation had been “seriously compromised”. CBI sources said the Bill did not seem to confer greater autonomy to the investigative agency—one of the focal points of the civil society's agitation for bringing about a strong, effective and credible Lokpal...

The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe a complaint by Amar Ujala reporter Sammiuddin alias Neelu that he was falsely implicated by the Lakhimpur Kheri district police in Uttar Pradesh in a criminal case under the Wildlife Act. The police were threatening that he would be bumped off in an encounter, the complainant alleged. The CBI should also probe the...

-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 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...