Lok Pal Bill will be introduced in Lok Sabha on Aug 4

The Lok Pal Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said today.

He said Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy had already given a notice to Speaker Meira Kumar to waive the two-day period so that the bill could be introduced on August 4.

Bansal said since all parties favoured introduction of the bill at the earliest, Narayanasamy wrote to the Speaker.

The Speaker can waive the two-day period required to distribute copies of any new bill to political parties so that they can come prepared during the introduction.

The Lok Pal Bill seeks to keep the office of the Prime Minister outside the purview of the ombudsman during his term in office and also exclude higher judiciary and conduct of MPs inside Parliament.

The Lok Pal, consisting of Chairperson and eight members, half of them judicial, will have its own prosecution and investigation wing with officers and staff necessary to carry out its functions.