Lokpal drafting process slow: Shanti Bhushan

Urges government to communicate to the civil society its position on issues of divergence

PTI | May 19, 2011



Terming as "slow" the drafting of Lokpal Bill, joint panel co-chair Shanti Bhushan on Thursday expressed doubts over completion of the process by the deadline of June 30 and urged the government to communicate to the civil society its position on issues of divergence.

In a letter to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, heading the joint drafting committee, he also demanded that after May 30, the meetings of the drafting committee should take place at least thrice a week if not on a daily basis.

"The deadline for drafting Jan Lokpal Bill is June 30. The progress so far has been slow. I, as co-chairperson, am worried whether we will be able to meet our deadline," he said in the letter.

Pointing out that the May seven meeting had discussed seven points of basic principles of Jan Lokpal Bill, he said home minister P Chidambaram had informed which of the seven points were straightaway acceptable to the government.

"Discussions started on those points where there was some divergence. I suggest that in the next meeting to be held on May 23, let the government first present its views on all the balance points in basic principles," he said.

Bhushan said the government should present its "concerns" and "possible solutions" on each of the points on which it differ.

He also noted that the government should communicate whether it wish to add any point to the basic principles presented by the civil society. "Once these are presented, we can go ahead with discussions on issues of divergence," he said.

He also reiterated the demand for video recording of the committee meetings. "In the meeting held on May two, you (Mukherjee) had said that you would consult your colleagues and let us know your decision.

"I would again argue that the proceedings should be video-recorded and released to the public after the law has been finally drafted," he said.

The representatives of the government and civil society had agreed on basic principles of the proposed law on anti-corruption ombudsman like transparency in selection process and autonomy but inclusion of prime minister and judiciary in the the ambit of the Lokpal was a sticking point.

There was agreement on various issues like transparency in the process of appointment of the Lokpal, the autonomy of the ombudsman and financial independence for such an office in the meeting.

However, government made it clear to civil society that more discussions were needed on having state-level Lokpals as consultations need to be held with state governments on the issue.

Comments

 

Other News

Railways imposed ₹5.13 crore fine for food quality and hygiene violations

Indian Railways serve about 58 crore meals every year on an average. About only 0.0008% food quality related complaints are received on average. Based on complaints during the last three years, appropriate penal actions have been taken by IRCTC. Such actions include imposition of fines amounting to ₹5.13

STHAVAR: Why every Indian built asset needs a permanent digital identity

India has built digital systems for identity, payments, taxation, documents, logistics and public services. State governments, ministries, infrastructure agencies and urban local bodies have also created portals for land records, building permissions, project monitoring, property taxation and municipal s

Saksham Skill census identifies 22,000 job-ready candidates in one Mumbai ward

A first-of-its-kind AI-enabled skill census conducted in Mumbai`s H-West Ward has identified a potential livelihood pipeline of nearly 22,000 candidates, generated over 32,000 provisional job matches while revealing that 71.2 per cent of surveyed homemakers are willing to join the workforce, according to

GI tags: Scaling traditional wealth into global brands

Geographical Indication (GI) tags have emerged as a powerful tool for protecting India`s cultural heritage, while creating economic opportunities for local communities. By linking products to their place of origin, GI tags preserve traditional knowledge, prevent misuse, and enhance consumer trust. They h

BMC: 207 officials in ACB net, 112 still on duty, 68 retire before justice catches up

There are significant delays in the handling of corruption cases involving officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a Right to Information (RTI) response obtained by rights activist Jeetendra Ghadge has revealed. As of 30 April 2026, 207 BMC officials face Anti-Corruption Bureau (A

The transformation trap: Why efficiency is not innovation

Every company is transforming, or so it claims.   There was a time when the word ‘transformation’ carried weight. It signified bold strategic shifts, reinvention of business models, and breakthrough technologies that fundamentally changed how organizations created

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter