Cabinet to take up Lokpal Bill on December 18

Promising all efforts to get the Lokpal Bill passed in the current session of Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday expressed confidence that it will be brought to the Cabinet on Sunday.

Government is working "day and night" to give shape to the Lokpal Bill, he told reporters on his way back from Moscow.

As Anna Hazare upped the ante on the Lokpal issue, Singh said his government will make all the effort to pass the Bill in the ongoing Winter Session and that there should be no doubt about government's sincerity in this regard.

The prime minister, at the same time, said one cannot speculate what would happen to the Lokpal once it is in Parliament.

"We will make all the effort to pass the bill in this session. We are working day and night to give shape to the bill and it is my hope that by tomorrow we should be able to bring the bill to the Cabinet," he said.

Singh's response came when he was asked whether the government will be able to pass the Lokpal Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament which is due to end on December 22.

Singh said after a Cabinet decision the government will be ready to take the bill to Parliament. "But once it is in Parliament, it is in the hands of the Parliament, we don't know what could happen, but there should be no doubt about our sincerity to get the bill passed in this session," he added.

Hazare has threatened to launch a fast on December 27 if the Lokpal Bill is not passed in Winter Session of Parliament.