Trying to bring back the focus on the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, the government is working hard to push the legislation for consideration and passage in the current session of Parliament.
Informing this minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions V. Narayanasamy said, “I have given a notice for discussion on Lokpal in the Rajya Sabha. The business advisory committee will decide on the date for discussion.”
The minister said the government wanted the legislation to be passed and the Rajya Sabha might take up the bill during the current session, which closes this month-end.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was passed in Lok Sabha on December 27, 2011. The bill was then referred to a Rajya Sabha select committee, which was set up in May last year, amid sharp differences among various political parties and civic society.
The committee report was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in November last year. Acting on the committee’s recommendations, the Union Cabinet had on January 31 approved amendments to the bill, delinking it from the setting up of lokayuktas in the states and transferring powers of sanction of prosecution against public servant to the ombudsman. The approval to the official amendments has paved the way for consideration of the bill afresh by the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Monsoon Session.
After getting a nod from the Upper House, the bill with amendments will go back for fresh approval to the Lok Sabha where it has already been passed.
The bill could not get through the Rajya Sabha amid an abrupt adjournment of the Winter Session last year and in this year’s Budget Session.