Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Government on Tuesday said that it has decided to consult all the political parties and the chief ministers of the states on the proposed Lokpal Bill. Denying allegations levelled by civil society members that the Government was trying to delay the Lokpal Bill, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the consultations were being widened to get the views of all those who are likely to come under the ambit of the Bill.
Chidambaram said that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the chairman of the drafting committee, has already written letter to chief ministers of the states and leaders of political parties seeking their suggestions on the proposed Lokpal Bill.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Chidambaram claimed that there were differences even in the civil society over the proposed Lokpal Bill. Admitting that Monday's meeting saw the Government and the civil society members of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee on a collision course, Chidambaram said, "There were differences in yesterday's discussions. There was no unanimity even among civil society members."
Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, who also addressed the press conference, asked the media and the civil society not to question the Government's intentions as he said such an attitude would only create hindrances in drafting the Lokpal Bill.
Sibal assured that the Government was confident that the draft of the bill would be ready by June 30 and added that writing letters to the chief ministers and political parties doesn't mean that the Government was delaying the process.
"It's up to the civil society members what they want to do. We will present a strong Lokpal Bill in Parliament," said Sibal when asked about the possible breakdown of talks and walkout threats by civil society members following Monday's meeting.
The Government and civil society members appeared to be on a collision course after the former strongly rejected the civil society's demand to include the Prime Minister in the Lokpal, saying such a move would make him "dysfunctional" and that corruption by judiciary and MPs could be tackled by the existing system.
The 10 member Lokpal Bill committee includes five Union ministers and five civil society representatives. Along with Mukherjee the other members representing the Government are Chidambaram, Sibal, M Veerappa Moily and Salman Khurshid while the civil society is represented by Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan.
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