Cabinet approves lokpal bill draft, PM out of its purview

The Union cabinet today approved lokpal bill draft which will be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament. Though the Prime Minister offered that his post be brought under the bill, it will come under its purview only after he demits office. What is the lokpal bill?

The Union cabinet on Thursday approved the draft of the anti-corruption lokpal bill, to be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning Aug 1, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni said.

The draft bill excludes from its ambit the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and MPs for their actions inside the house, informed sources said.

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Prime Minister will come under purview of lokpal after he demits office.

This would be a major disappointment to the anti-corruption campaign led by civil rights activist Anna Hazare.

A 10-member committee, comprising five ministers and five civil rights leaders, was set up in April to draft the bill, but the two sides prepared separate versions following disagreements over key issues.

Reacting to reports that the Prime Minister would be excluded from the ambit of the Lokpal bill, civil society leader Kiran Bedi said the group would react officially after details were available.

"It is not the end of the civil society movement, but the beginning," she told reporters in New Delhi.