Lokpal bill may get cabinet nod at Sunday meeting

The lokpal bill is likely to be discussed and approved at a special cabinet meeting to be held on Sunday, official sources said. The bill is then likely to be tabled in parliament Tuesday for urgent consideration and passage, the sources told IANS.

The lokpal bill is likely to be discussed and approved at a special cabinet meeting to be held on Sunday, official sources said. The bill is then likely to be tabled in parliament Tuesday for urgent consideration and passage, the sources told IANS.

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A three-member team of the cabinet - comprising law minister Salman Khurshid, home minister P Chidambaram and minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy - will hold internal consultations to finalise the bill, which will be overseen by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, they said.

The consultations come in the wake of the meetings of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leaders on Tuesday and the all-party meeting on Wednesday regarding the contentious legislation.

Social activist Anna Hazare has threatened a fresh agitation from Jan 1 if a "strong lokpal bill" is not passed by then.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is on a three-day visit to Russia, will be back in the capital on Saturday evening, a day before the scheduled special meeting of the cabinet.