Unclear if bill will be tabled this session, Sisodia says panel to take call
Unclear if bill will be tabled this session, Sisodia says panel to take call
The AAP government on Wednesday cleared the draft Jan Lokpal Bill, paving the way to the creation of the post of an anti-graft ombudsman in the city. The Kejriwal government claimed that the draft bill was similar to the one proposed during the Anna Hazare movement.
The Winter Session of the Delhi Assembly started on Wednesday. The Kejriwal Cabinet cleared the bill after facing criticism over delay in tabling the bill over which the AAP government had resigned after just 49 days in power during its first stint.
However, there seems to be confusion over when the bill will be tabled in the Assembly. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the bill will be tabled in the Assembly soon while his deputy Manish Sisodia said that the business advisory committee will take a call on when to table the bill. A senior government official said the AAP government will make every possible effort to get it passed during the ongoing Winter Session.
The draft bill, among other provisions, also brings the office of the chief minister under its purview and is on the lines of the Uttarakhand Lokpal Bill which stipulates time-bound probe.
“A strict Lokpal which won’t be a mere slogan, which won’t be limited to symbolism... That particular bill of the Anna movement has been passed by the Cabinet by the name Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill 2015. This is the same bill which came up during the Anna movement, without any changes,” Mr Sisodia said.
Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, who earlier tried to corner the AAP government over non-tabling of the bill on the floor of the House, said the AAP government’s move was out of “compulsion.”
“If the news is true, then it is our success since the BJP has been demanding tabling of the bill. Although the AAP government was not inclined to bring the bill, it did so under compulsion, it seems,” Mr Gupta said.
“Any dilution of the original bill won’t be acceptable to the Congress. The bill that was laid during the first stint of the AAP government should be brought,” Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said.
The Aam Aadmi Party traces its roots to the Jan Lokpal movement which was spearheaded by anti-graft activist Anna Hazare. In its first term, the AAP had introduced the bill in the Assembly in February 2014.
However, Mr Kejriwal resigned within 49 days of assuming office on being unable to garner support to get it passed.
