The government will take a "broad consensus" among its allies on its latest version of the Lokpal Bill to a crucial meeting of all political parties this evening. There, it hopes to find meeting ground with Opposition parties on points that have so far remained unresolved. The role of the CBI remains the one point of contention.
The CBI wants to retain its independence and objects to any move to bifurcate its functioning; Team Anna wants the CBI under the Lokpal, the BJP wants the CBI to have investigative autonomy, out of government control too, and says administration can be under the Lokpal.
"If the CBI is controlled by the government," BJP's Arun Jaitley told NDTV, "it will become a toy. Because the investigating arm of the Lokpal will be under the government."
Sources said the main opposition party was likely to oppose at today's meeting the government's reported proposal that only the CBI's prosecution wing will be under the Lokpal's supervision, while its investigation and administration wings will be independent. At a meeting of the UPA yesterday, some of the Congress' allies, reportedly expressed concern about the inclusion of the CBI under the Lokpal.
Ahead of today's all-party meeting, seen as a final act in the framing of the new anti-corruption law, the Prime Minister has met CBI Director AP Singh and Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pradeep Kumar, both of whom have reportedly raised concerns on the proposed draft of the Lokpal Bill. The CVC too is an autonomous anti-corruption body and there have been questions on how its functioning will be affected by the setting up of an overarching anti-corruption ombudsman like the Lokpal.
The government's new formula also proposes that the PM, Lokpal chair and the leader of the opposition will appoint the CBI Director. The government is likely to take a final view on these issues after the all-party meeting today.
The contours of the government's new peace formula took shape as the Prime Minister held discussions on the phone with many political leaders of different parties on Monday; he was reportedly successful in pitching the new version that seems to have the blessing of most big political players. So the government expects broad consensus at today's meeting on key points like the Lokpal being allowed to investigate the Prime Minister, though with safeguards. The suggestion reportedly found favour with the UPA allies at a meeting held on Tuesday evening. Sources say the allies have also indicated their willingness to the inclusion of the lower bureaucracy under the ambit of the Lokpal. And at today's meeting, all parties are expected to approve this, they added.
At the end of Tuesday's meeting, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi met all UPA allies and discussed the government's peace formula, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the discussion was "useful". "There was a broad consensus between the UPA allies. We will present our views at the all-party meeting tomorrow. We hope the meeting will be productive and will help us draft an effective Bill," Mr Chidambaram added.
Sources say that during the meeting, the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the Chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee that studied the Bill, briefed the allies on the implications of the Bill.
The anti-corruption bill has been championed by activist Anna Hazare. He is meeting his team of activists today in Delhi to assess whether the Bill is strong enough for him to call off a hunger strike scheduled for December 27. Over the next two days, the team of activists will also discuss the administrative details of where and how their next agitation should be held, if necessary. They will also be watching keenly what emerges from today's all-party meeting.
There are reports that some Team Anna members have met CBI officials, to discuss the one remaining sticking point about the agency's role, thought the CBI has denied there's been any meeting. "We support CBI's protest and believe that the Standing Committee's report is dangerous and should be rejected," Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here. He said the recommendations, if implemented, would cripple the functioning of the CBI.
The two sides, of course, only agree that the government's proposal is faulty - they have diametrically opposite visions of what the CBI's role should be. Team Anna wants the CBI under the Lokpal; The CBI has argued ardently against being made to report to the Lokpal - the agency believes this will defeat the objective of ensuring its autonomy.
The CBI is learnt to have written to the Department of Personnel and Training, under whose administrative control it functions, expressing its unhappiness over the Parliamentary panel's recommendations.
According to sources, the CBI has said that the proposed move for a preliminary enquiry by the Lokpal would "severely impair" the effectiveness of the agency in anti-corruption cases as it would lose the "surprise element" to carry out search operations.
Anna today also objected to the Citizens' Charter being cleared as a separate Bill. To prove its intent in checking graft, the Union Cabinet cleared that and the Judicial Accountability Bill on Tuesday. But Anna says he wanted this as an intrinsic part of the Lokpal and that Parliament had unanimously approved that by a "sense of the House" in August which must be honoured.
The 74-year-old Gandhian has said that unless the final bill includes his demands, he will use a fast to launch a new campaign in which he would urge people to "fill every jail in India." That fresh campaign could see a new Anna hungerstrike begin on December 27.
The CBI wants to retain its independence and objects to any move to bifurcate its functioning; Team Anna wants the CBI under the Lokpal, the BJP wants the CBI to have investigative autonomy, out of government control too, and says administration can be under the Lokpal.
"If the CBI is controlled by the government," BJP's Arun Jaitley told NDTV, "it will become a toy. Because the investigating arm of the Lokpal will be under the government."
Sources said the main opposition party was likely to oppose at today's meeting the government's reported proposal that only the CBI's prosecution wing will be under the Lokpal's supervision, while its investigation and administration wings will be independent. At a meeting of the UPA yesterday, some of the Congress' allies, reportedly expressed concern about the inclusion of the CBI under the Lokpal.
Ahead of today's all-party meeting, seen as a final act in the framing of the new anti-corruption law, the Prime Minister has met CBI Director AP Singh and Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pradeep Kumar, both of whom have reportedly raised concerns on the proposed draft of the Lokpal Bill. The CVC too is an autonomous anti-corruption body and there have been questions on how its functioning will be affected by the setting up of an overarching anti-corruption ombudsman like the Lokpal.
The government's new formula also proposes that the PM, Lokpal chair and the leader of the opposition will appoint the CBI Director. The government is likely to take a final view on these issues after the all-party meeting today.
The contours of the government's new peace formula took shape as the Prime Minister held discussions on the phone with many political leaders of different parties on Monday; he was reportedly successful in pitching the new version that seems to have the blessing of most big political players. So the government expects broad consensus at today's meeting on key points like the Lokpal being allowed to investigate the Prime Minister, though with safeguards. The suggestion reportedly found favour with the UPA allies at a meeting held on Tuesday evening. Sources say the allies have also indicated their willingness to the inclusion of the lower bureaucracy under the ambit of the Lokpal. And at today's meeting, all parties are expected to approve this, they added.
At the end of Tuesday's meeting, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi met all UPA allies and discussed the government's peace formula, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the discussion was "useful". "There was a broad consensus between the UPA allies. We will present our views at the all-party meeting tomorrow. We hope the meeting will be productive and will help us draft an effective Bill," Mr Chidambaram added.
Sources say that during the meeting, the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the Chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee that studied the Bill, briefed the allies on the implications of the Bill.
The anti-corruption bill has been championed by activist Anna Hazare. He is meeting his team of activists today in Delhi to assess whether the Bill is strong enough for him to call off a hunger strike scheduled for December 27. Over the next two days, the team of activists will also discuss the administrative details of where and how their next agitation should be held, if necessary. They will also be watching keenly what emerges from today's all-party meeting.
There are reports that some Team Anna members have met CBI officials, to discuss the one remaining sticking point about the agency's role, thought the CBI has denied there's been any meeting. "We support CBI's protest and believe that the Standing Committee's report is dangerous and should be rejected," Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here. He said the recommendations, if implemented, would cripple the functioning of the CBI.
The two sides, of course, only agree that the government's proposal is faulty - they have diametrically opposite visions of what the CBI's role should be. Team Anna wants the CBI under the Lokpal; The CBI has argued ardently against being made to report to the Lokpal - the agency believes this will defeat the objective of ensuring its autonomy.
The CBI is learnt to have written to the Department of Personnel and Training, under whose administrative control it functions, expressing its unhappiness over the Parliamentary panel's recommendations.
According to sources, the CBI has said that the proposed move for a preliminary enquiry by the Lokpal would "severely impair" the effectiveness of the agency in anti-corruption cases as it would lose the "surprise element" to carry out search operations.
Anna today also objected to the Citizens' Charter being cleared as a separate Bill. To prove its intent in checking graft, the Union Cabinet cleared that and the Judicial Accountability Bill on Tuesday. But Anna says he wanted this as an intrinsic part of the Lokpal and that Parliament had unanimously approved that by a "sense of the House" in August which must be honoured.
The 74-year-old Gandhian has said that unless the final bill includes his demands, he will use a fast to launch a new campaign in which he would urge people to "fill every jail in India." That fresh campaign could see a new Anna hungerstrike begin on December 27.
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