Lokpal panel meeting ends in stalemate
15 Jun 2011
The seventh meeting of the Lokpal drafting committee ended in stalemate today with the government nominees on the committee sticking to their stand on exclusion of the prime minister and other high offices from the purview of the bill.
The civil society members on the 10-member panel drafting the anti-corruption bill complained that the government was trying to kill the bill even before it was born, while HRD minister Kapil Sibal said there was no consensus on the bill.
"Government took a hardline on most of the issues," said Arvind Kejriwal.
With no meeting point on the contentious issues, it is likely that the committee will come up with two separate drafts - one by the government members and the other drafted by the civil society members.
The civil society members are expected to present a draft on issues of divergence while the government members will prepare another draft on the issues, narrowing down talks to only the points of divergence.
The government also rejected the demand of the civil society members to telecast the proceedings of the drafting committee live.