Civil society lesson hard to forget: Kapil Sibal

After a not so pleasant experience of engaging with Team Anna in drafting the Lokpal Bill, the government says there will be no such experiment in the future. Union minister Kapil Sibal, one of the key members of the joint committee for drafting the bill, said, “I don’t say it is a precedent... the government was in a particular situation.”

Asked if it was a “one-off” episode, he said, “I would imagine so.” Sibal emphasised that the draft bill prepared by the five ministers was not the “final bill” and “it will go through changes when we get inputs not just from other political parties but also other members of civil society”. The government will discuss the draft with other political parties on July 3.

About Baba Ramdev, Sibal said, “We exposed him. He was negotiating with us and giving us promises and doing just the opposite at Ramlila Maidan. The government ultimately exposed him... what he really stood for.” At a press meet in Delhi, Ramdev attacked the government saying it does not want to fight corruption.