Parliament session likely to be extended for Lokpal Bill

A move is afoot to extend the session of Parliament by three days from December 27 to 29 after a five day break from December 22, when it was scheduled to conclude, to facilitate adequate time for consideration of the Lokpal Bill.

The Lokpal Bill is expected to be brought in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has sounded Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party leader L K Advani on the move and has promised to get back after the meeting of the Union Cabinet tonight, sources said.

Bansal has already said that the government was keen to take up the Lokpal Bill in this session.

The government is also considering the possibility of bringing a fresh Lokpal Bill, in view of the many changes in the original draft.

Among the major amendments in the Bill are bringing the prime minister under the purview of Lokpal with certain conditions, providing supervisory powers to Lokpal over the Central Bureau of Investigation in corruption cases referred by it and changing the selection process of the CBI chief.

A separate mechanism for dealing with corruption in Group C and D is also being evolved.

In the Lok Sabha, soon after the adjournment, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav were seen having consultations with Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj. The two Yadav leaders questioned whether the main opposition had reached a deal with the government on the Lokpal issue.

Swaraj was heard allaying their concerns, saying the discussions with the government were only related to the Companies Bill.