Lokayukta out of Lokpal, bill in Rajya Sabha May 21

The government has agreed to separate provisions for appointing Lokayuktas in states from the Lokpal bill and is likely to bring the legislation in the Rajya Sabha May 21, informed sources said Tuesday.

The sources said the government has also agreed to drop a provision to remove the Lokpal, under which any citizen could complain against the ombudsman to the president. The bill would now provide that the Lokpal could be removed by the Supreme Court after 100 MPs of both the houses file a complaint against him.

Four cabinet ministers - Law Minister Salman Khurshid, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy - held informal consultations with various political parties to evolve a consensus over the past week.

Sources said even if the Lokpal bill is passed in the upper house, there would be no time left to refer it back to the Lok Sabha as the government wants to pass several pending bills. The ongoing budget session ends May 22.

Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury, meanwhile, told IANS that so far the new version of the bill has not been given to members by government.

"We have not got the bill," he said.