We are not here to please Team Anna: Singhvi

Asserting that it was for Parliament to take a final view on inclusion of prime minister under the ambit of Lokpal, Parliamentary Standing Committee chairman Abhishek Singhvi today said the panel was not meant to reach out to or please Team Anna or any other group.

Asserting that it was for Parliament to take a final view on inclusion of prime minister under the ambit of Lokpal, Parliamentary Standing Committee chairman Abhishek Singhvi on Wednesday said the panel was not meant to reach out to or please Team Anna or any other group.

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He said Standing Committee recommendations was nowhere near or resembling the government bill and they do not include or implement in any manner a government draft or a civil society bill.

"We are not here to reach out or please Team Anna or for that matter NCPRI or anybody else. We cannot do that," Singhvi said.

He said the panel gave three options on the issue of inclusion of prime minister in the Lokpal. "Now there can be a fourth or a fifth view. The committee felt that any of the three views can be possible. Why not look into it?"

He said government itself was entitled to go beyond the Standing Committee report. "The government may add more to the report. Parliament may add still more," he said.

He also said that the Standing Committee report had its unique sense of creativity and innovation.

Asked whether Team Anna should desist from its proposed agitation, Singhvi said that they should wait and look at the efficacy of the Lokpal institution. "Give it a chance of a year or two and if it does not work then start the agitation," he said.