Lokpal Bill: panel to start deliberations from tomorrow

Abhishek Singhvi, chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lokpal Bill, said today that the panel would begin "internal deliberations" from tomorrow, even as he did not specify whether they would meet its December 7 deadline for completing the process.

Abhishek Singhvi, chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lokpal Bill, said on Sunday that the panel would begin "internal deliberations" from Monday, even as he did not specify whether they would meet its December 7 deadline for completing the process.

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"With the cooperation of more than 12 parties in a mini parliament, the committee has been able to finish with all witness evidences in less than five weeks," Singhvi told reporters in Chandigarh.

Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari had recently given the committee a month's extension till December 7. The committee had initially been given three months (beginning on August 8) to examine the bill.

"We should reach our goal in the near future," Singhvi said.

Earlier, he said at a seminar that the bill was set to be presented in Parliament.

Union minister for law and justice Salman Khurshid and parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who were also present at the seminar on 'Legal and Electoral Reforms', were hopeful that the bill would be presented in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

The session is scheduled to begin on November 22 and continue till December 23.