Govt confident of introducing Lok Pal Bill in Monsoon Session

With majority of political parties batting for Parliamentary supremacy on the Lok Pal Bill, government today expressed confidence that a consensus will emerge on the issue and the draft legislation would be introduced in Parliament in the upcoming Monsoon Session.

"We are very happy with the outcome of the all party meeting yesterday. We are confident we can take the process forward to bring the Bill in the Monsoon Session and pass it as soon as possible," Home Minister P Chidambaram said here.

He pointed out that yesterday's all party meeting called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasised the primacy of the Parliamentary process and the role of political parties to pilot and approve legislations.

Chidambaram's remarks reflected a sense of relief in the government which was so far battling the civil society led by Anna Hazare on the Lok Pal issue alone while receiving flak from Opposition parties on the issue of corruption.

"We will therefore bring a Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament. That Bill will be examined. Every effort will be made to pass the Bill at the earliest. But that will depend on the members of Parliament and their desire to follow established procedures," Chidambaram said.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal made it very clear that the government had promised to bring the Lok Pal Bill in the Parliament in the Monsoon Session but there was no commitment on the timeline of passing the same.

"We had said we are committed to bringing the Bill in the monsoon session. We never said it will be passed in the monsoon session," Sibal said.

The Minister also said that two parties which took part in the all party meeting suggested that the Bill could be passed in the Winter Session.