Team Anna, government agree to disagree on Lokpal
New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) Team Anna Hazare and the government met for the last time Tuesday on a draft Lokpal bill, with the two sides "agreeing to disagree" on key points, including bringing the prime minister under the ambit of the ombudsman.
The two sides, who first met April 16 to chalk out a strong Lokpal bill aimed at curbing corruption in high places, have been engaged in a war of words since the first day. Tuesday's meeting was the last meeting between the two sides.
Emerging from the over one-hour-long meeting at North Block, Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal said: "Six sticking points remain between us. Drafts were exchanged."
At the meeting, the two sides presented their versions of the bill, which will now be given to the cabinet, which will take a final call.
"We had a friendly discussion and we agreed to disagree," Sibal said.
He also said the government would take the issue forward in two to three days. "We will take it to the political parties for a nod. Then it will go to the cabinet. Then we will take it to parliament," he told reporters.
Both the versions will be merged into one document with he differences listed out for a final decision to be taken by the cabinet.
Lawyer and civil society member Prashant Bhushan said: "The meeting was disappointing."
"There is an intense public debate going on about the provisions of the Lokpal bill. It is possible that the cabinet may accept some provisions of our draft," he said.
Civil society member and Hazare confidant Arvind Kejriwal said in the government draft, the prime minister, the judiciary and junior bureaucrats has been excluded from the purview of the Lokpal.
The other contentious issues that civil society wants in the bill are - acts of parliamentarians inside parliament to be covered by Lokpal, punishment prescribed for corruption and that the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) be merged into the Lokpal.
Before going for the meeting, Kejriwal had said that he had a "feeling that the decisions were pre-decided."
The two sides began meeting in April after a hunger strike by Gandhian activist Anna Hazare here for five days spurred the government into setting up the 10-member Lokpal bill drafting panel.