New Delhi:
The government has started the consultation process with the Opposition in its attempts to build consensus before the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill returns to the Rajya Sabha, most likely next week.
Senior ministers met BJP leaders like Arun Jaitley to seek a compromise on the major differences between the government and the Opposition over the proposed legislation. Who the CBI will report to remains a sticking point. But an agreement appears to have been reached on the how the new bill would apply to states, an issue that had placed Mamata Banerjee firmly against the government that she partners in at the centre.
Like the BJP, Ms Banerjee and most other parties had said that the centre's final version of the Lokpal cannot be enforced upon states because that violates the principle of federalism
The Lokpal refers to a national ombudsman agency which will investigate complaints of graft against government servants. The bill in its current form makes it necessary for states to create a Lokyukta, or local agency, that replicates the national model. The government and the opposition may agree to suggestions that the Centre should deliver model legislation on Lokayuktas - a state would be free to amend this and pass it in their legislatures.
This would make the Bill far more palatable to the BJP and Ms Banerjee. "If the Lokpal Bill is presented without Lokayukta (clause), we will support that. This has been our demand. The states should have the powers to appoint the Lokayuktas," said Sultan Ahmed, a senior leader from Ms Banerjee's party.
But the CBI's relationship with the Lokpal remains unresolved. The BJP is firm that the CBI must have complete autonomy from the government - the party says the CBI chief, for example, should no longer be selected by the government alone. It also wants the investigative wing of the CBI to be accountable to the Lokpal. The government's bill has the Lokpal referring cases of corruption to the CBI and then receiving its findings. The agency's investigating branch will not report to the Lokpal. Critics say that in that case, the Lokpal will serve as little more than a post-office, receiving complaints from the public and passing them onto the CBI after determining whether they merit an inquiry.
In December, the Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal Bill. It was then discussed heatedly in the Rajya Sabha but after a lengthy debate, the session was adjourned without a vote. The Opposition accused the government of conniving to avoid a vote because it knew it would lose. An amended Bill will now be brought to the Rajya Sabha, and after it is cleared there, it will be sent to the Lok Sabha for discussion and a vote.