Lokpal Bill passes round 1

First session of Lokpal Bill was extremely cordial, says Kapil Sibal; Weekly meetings starting May 2 will be audio-recorded

First session of Lokpal Bill was "extremely cordial", says Kapil Sibal; Weekly meetings starting May 2 will be audio-recorded

Following the 97-hour-long fast held by social crusader Anna Hazare for the Jan Lokpal Bill that will enforce a stringent anti-corruption law, the 10-member panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan as co-chairperson began their first meeting on Saturday. The bill is being amended to be introduced at the monsoon session of parliament.


Anna Hazare during his fast unto death demanding for the amendment
of the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill. PIC/Rajeev Tyagi

The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, Water Resources Minister Salman Khursheed, social activist Anna Hazare, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal.

"It is a historic event because we believe that the atmosphere in which the discussions took place was extremely cordial and we hope to arrive at a consensus which will purge corruption," said Sibal at the end of the two-hour meeting at North Block in Delhi.

"Our meeting started at 11.30 am, Shanti Bhushan explained the salient features of the Jan Lokpal Bill and we consulted on the procedures to be adopted in the coming weeks," said Sibal.

First came a suggestion of video-recording the meeting. Prashant Bhushan said the committee has decided that all the proceedings will be made public. "It is decided that consultations through website and public consultation will also be held in different regions of the country," said Bhushan. The government though turned it into just audio recordings, which will be in effect from the next session to be held on May 2 where substantive provisions of the bill, including the Jan Lokpal Bill, will be discussed. However, the demand for using a draft as the base for negotiations was dropped.u00a0

Even before the first meeting, father-son duo Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan were busy fending off allegations made on Friday when a CD was circulated, reportedly containing conversations between Shanti Bhushan, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and former SP leader Amar Singh regarding "fixing a judge in Uttar Pradesh for a price".