New Bill envisages to have CBI as anti-graft ombudsman’s investigation arm and it's 9-member commission to be headed by ‘eminent person’.
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a new Lokpal Bill for introduction in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. It envisages the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to be the Lokpal’s investigation arm but without any control over its functioning.
Since more than 70 amendments had been suggested on the draft approved by the parliamentary standing committee, it was decided to bring an entirely new Bill. The new Bill envisages bringing lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal’s purview, with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) as its investigation arm.
The Bill cleared by the Cabinet also seeks to put the prime minister under its ambit but with certain safeguards.
Prosecution in both types of investigations, be it by the CBI or the CVC, will rest in the hands of the Lokpal. The government has also rescinded the sanctioning powers it kept all these years. The Lokpal may have its own department for prosecution.
The powers of the Lokpal to initiate a probe suo motu into any corruption case as envisaged in the original Bill will not be there as it can only act on complaints.
It was not clear whether the approved legislation is a statutory bill or a constitution amendment bill, though law minister Salman Khurshid said earlier in the day that the new law would give a constitutional status to the nine-member Lokpal.
As regards removal of Lokpal members, an impeachment by at least 100 MPs is required for the President to make a reference to the Supreme Court for advice.
A Cabinet note drafted by the trio of home minister P Chidambaram, Khurshid and telecom minister Kapil Sibal and cleared by the prime minister for placing it in the Cabinet meeting also agrees on selection of the Lokpal members by a three-member panel comprising the PM, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or his nominee.
The new Bill envisages a former CJI or a retired Supreme Court judge or an eminent person to be the chairman.
A senior minister said the new Bill was adopted without any changes. On the tabling in Parliament, he said it now depends on the business advisory committee (BAC) that meets on Wednesday to decide when the bill can be introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The government will like to simultaneously withdraw the original Bill and introduce the new Lokpal Bill on Thursday, but it depends on the BAC to fix the date.
Earlier, the government found itself in knots on fixing of dates for the debate on the Lokpal Bill.
The BAC meeting in the morning had decided to extend the session by three days from December 27 to allow more time to study and debate the bill.
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