The parliamentary panel scrutinising the Lokpal Bill is likely to submit its report early next month and the redrafted legislation will be “far superior” to anything that has been proposed so far, Union law minister Salman Khurshid said on Sunday.
“It is before the standing committee. We are waiting for the committee to give report. He (committee chairman) has indicated that in the first week of December, they will be able to give the report,” Mr Khurshid said while speaking at North Zone Lawyers’ Conference on Legal and Electoral Reforms organised by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee here.
Standing committee chairman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was among those present, said, “The speed and the direction of the committee are nothing short of a miracle.
“We are hoping to complete our work soon and fast but we refused to give any deadline as it would be unfair to the Committee and its members.”
Mr Khurshid said that once the bill is made available by the standing committee, “We will be going around the country talking to all enlightened people saying this bill is far superior to anything that has been proposed or suggested”. Mr Singhvi said the committee will start its own internal deliberations from tomorrow. “I hope we will be able to do our job in quickest possible time...But there are more than 15-17 issues like the inclusion of the Prime Minister (etc)..There are strong pro and con arguments and every argument is being looked at”.
Mr Singhvi said that majority of issues are those on which “there cannot be any major debate unless one wants to make it political”.
The term of the committee was recently extended till December 7. Team Anna which has been campaigning for a strong Lokpal Bill has demanded that the Bill be brought in the Winter Session of Parliament which is scheduled to begin on November 22 and continue till December 23.
Union parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said he was hopeful that the Lokpal Bill will be passed in the coming Winter Session of Parliament. While making it clear that government was committed to rooting out corruption and bringing in reforms, the three senior Congress leaders launched a veiled attack on Team Anna, saying nobody can force his way in a democratic set up.