Indian gov't clears landmark anti-graft Lokpal Bill

Indian gov't clears landmark anti-graft Lokpal Bill
 The Indian government late Tuesday night approved a landmark anti-graft Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill, keeping the prime minister within its purview but the premier probe agency outside its ambit, local media reported Wednesday.

The bill will be tabled in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) on Thursday and before the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) on Friday for passing in Parliament, according to the Indian Constitution.

According to the bill, approved by the Cabinet, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will act as the Lokpal's investigating tool, but the controls will remain with the government.

However, anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, who has threatened to go on a three-day fast against the bill, and the country's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party have slammed the government's decision to exclude the CBI from its ambit.

"Let the government go its way, we will go our way," Hazare told media, announcing he would go on fast from Dec. 27 in Mumbai for three days and start a "prison fill-up movement" across the country on Jan. 1, 2012.

However, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi defended the bill, saying that the "government will do what it thinks appropriate and dissenters can do what they think appropriate".

Editor: An

English.news.cn   2011-12-21 15:03:17              
NEW DELHI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua)