Govt's Lokpal bill to counter JPC demand

The government plans to push the Lokpal bill to checkmate opposition on the issue of corruption and its insistence on a joint parliamentary committee to probe the 2G scam.

The government plans to push the Lokpal bill to checkmate opposition on the issue of corruption and its insistence on a joint parliamentary committee to probe the 2G scam.

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The bill will for the first time allow the anti-corruption ombudsman to probe charges even against the Prime Minister.

Sources say the government is contemplating all possible steps, including an ordinance, to move ahead with the bill.

The move is aimed at taking the wind out of the opposition campaign by giving a signal that the government is prepared to even put its highest office under scrutiny.

"The draft of the bill has already been prepared and we can move ahead within no time once we get the nod," said a senior government official.

The draft bill authorises the lokpal to probe allegations of corruption against the PM and his office, except in matters related to "national security, maintenance of public order, national defence and foreign relations."