-Express News Service   Virtually forced into drafting it, the government today introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha that aims to fight Corruption via the Lokpal at the centre and Lokayuktas in the states, an unprecedented oversight body whose members are selected, and which is set to be dominated by members of the higher judiciary. The singular theme emerging from the proceedings of the house today was the unease across the political...

Among the demands of the CPM, one of the fiercest critics of the government’s version of the Lokpal Bill, a key one is the inclusion of all government employees under the purview of the Lokpal. Yet, in states that the party rules or has ruled, the Lokayukta Acts passed by CPM governments don’t give the institute such a reach. In Tripura, the government passed a Lokayukta Act a year ago, leaving out...

-The Times of India   A couple of days back, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh was promised a rose by anti-Corruption crusader Anna Hazare in the event of a strong Lokpal Bill. At this moment, however, its the thorns in that rose which stand out. Confrontation is looming over the current shape of the Bill, which is likely to retain administrative government control over the CBI. Anna has reverted swiftly to agitation mode, declaring...

Nikhil Dey, co-convenor of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), has said that Team Anna’s opposition to the Grievance Redressal Bill is outdated as it seems to be based on the older version of the Bill which is available on the Internet.   The din over the Lokpal — which is at best a “huge police agency that will send people to jail” — he says, has drowned 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...