CBI probes will stay independent of lokpal: Khurshid
24 Dec 2011
Following strong objections by the Central Bureau of Investigation to being controlled by the proposed lokpal, law minister Salman Khurshid today said the central corruption watchdog would be free to refer investigations to the CBI or any other investigative body; but the actual investigations would remain outside its purview.
"More than the CBI, the law ministry understands the importance of investigation. The CBI won't do all the investigation. The lokpal is free to give investigation to any agency it wants to ... but we are very clear that investigations won't be interfered with by anybody, including the lokpal," Khurshid told a TV channel.
The CBI has been insisting that it continue to have the power to take a final decision on an investigation and file a police report before a court. It also says lokpal bill must provide flexibility on the time-frame needed for completing investigations.
Meanwhile, as anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and his team refuse to budge from their aggressive stand for a lokpal with more sweeping powers, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi told a meeting of state-level Congress general secretaries that the campaign of 'team Anna' must be tackled in elections.
Her comments came as team Anna said they would attempt to trash the Congress, which leads the UPA government at the centre, in several state elections that are coming up soon.
Gandhi told the general secretaries that they must ensure the Congress wins in Punjab and Uttarakhand, and at least do well in Uttar Pradesh (a key state which the Congress once controlled, but has long lost).
She told them that this would be the people's answer to Hazare's campaign. "A Congress win in the assembly polls will be a befitting answer to Anna Hazare," she told the meeting.
Team Anna has rejected the government's version of the lokpal bill tabled by the government in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and has said that he will campaign against the Congress in all five poll bound states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa.
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