Centre writes to CMs, parties seeking views on Lokpal

Seeking to widen consultations, the Centre on Tuesday wrote to all chief ministers and leaders of political parties eliciting their views on issues including whether to bring the Prime Minister under Lokpal.

A day after civil society activists on the Joint Drafting Committee on the Bill threatened to take to streets, home minister P Chidambaram and HRD minister Kapil Sibal addressed a press conference to make it clear that the government was committed to bringing a Bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

The government is also trying to avert a situation like the one that evolved during the indefinite fast by Anna Hazare last month with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and top ministry officials talking to Baba Ramdev to persuade him not to go ahead with his proposed indefinite fast from June 4.

Mukherjee, who is also the chairman of the Joint Draft Committee, on Tuesday wrote a letter to the the chief ministers and leaders of political parties representatives in Parliament to give their views on six issues.

These include the demand of civil society members that one single Act should provide for both the Lokpal in the Centre and Lokayukta in the state and whether their governments would be willing to accept a draft provision for the Lokayukta on the same lines as that of the Lokpal.

Answer has also been sought on whether Prime Minister should also be brought under the purview of the Lokpal and if so, should there be a qualified inclusion and should judges of Supreme Court and hgh courts also be covered by the proposed law.