Cabinet clears key changes to Lokpal bill

The Lokpal bill was passed by the Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament in 2011 but ran into hurdles in the Upper House. Several changes to the bill have been proposed by a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha based on recommendations of the members.

The amended Lokpal bill will make it mandatory for the states to set up their own lokayuktas, or anti-corruption ombudsmen, within a year of the bill coming into effect.

Political parties will be brought under the Lokpal.

Religious and charitable institutions, including non-governmental organisations aided by the government, will be exempted.

But differences remain on several recommendations. The government has disagreed with the select committee's view that the power to transfer CBI officials should rest with the Lokpal and not the investigative agency.

The government also doesn't favour the committee's recommendation that officials facing an inquiry from the Lokpal should not be heard during the preliminary stage of the probe.

The amended Lokpal Bill is expected to be presented before Rajya Sabha during the budget session of Parliament next month.

The government is facing a fresh wave of protests over Lokpal by activistAnna Hazare, who says the bill, in its current form, is too weak to fightcorruption and has been inordinately delayed.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has assured Mr Hazare that the Lokpal bill would be passed in the budget session of Parliament, but Mr Hazare says the Congress and its government have not kept similar promises made in the past.

Mr Hazare, who has championed the Lokpal agitation through hunger strikes and countrywide protests, has offered his own version of the bill. His main demand is to bring the Prime Minister and the CBI under the Lokpal, but the government has rejected the idea.