Even as the civil society members of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee called the meetings a ‘drama’, Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said the proposed legislation will be drafted by the deadline of June 30.
"On behalf of the government we want to reiterate what we have been saying: it is our intention to draft a strong and sound Lokpal bill, and we will complete it by June 30," Chidambaram said at a press conference.
Differences emerged between the two sides in the seventh meeting of the committee Wednesday with the civil society members alleging that the government was attempting to "bulldoze" its version of the bill.
Inclusion of the prime minister and judiciary within the ambit of the proposed Lokpal are among the points of main differences between the two sides.