Government says PM should only be prosecuted for wrong-doings once he leaves office
Government says PM should only be "prosecuted" for wrong-doings once he leaves officeUnion Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said that the Prime Minister should not fall within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill, but he could be prosecuted once he leaves theu00a0 office.
"Within the government, we feel prima facie, the Prime Minister should not be covered (by the Lokpal bill)," he said on Saturday.
"But at the same time, we want to make sure that if he demerits the office, he should not be exonerated from prosecution," he added.
Sibal, who is one of the government representatives on the 10-member drafting committee, however, clarified that the government will only decide on the issue after the draft bill goes to the cabinet.
He said the five ministers on the committee were willing to be persuaded to bring the Prime Minister under the ambit of the anti-corruption legislation if the civil society gives a compelling argument.
The government members are Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is co-chairman of panel, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
With the civil society sticking to its demand for bringing the Prime Minister under the Lokpal, the Congress core committee on Friday also met to take a call on the issue. In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said earlier that he was "open" to the idea of bringing the post under the Lokpal.
Sibal said it was not the question of "an individual, Manmohan Singh, but it's about an institution".
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