Jan Lokayukta Bill in next assembly session: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his government had almost prepared the Jan Lokayukta Bill's draft and planned to present it in the next session of the state assembly.

"Jan Lokayukta Bill (is) almost ready. We should be able to present it in next session of assembly," Kejriwal tweeted.

Delhi government officials confirmed that the draft of the bill has been prepared.

"Draft of the bill has been completed. Some final touches are being given to it. A team under Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is working hard in this connection," an official told IANS.

Kejriwal in the poll manifesto had said that passing the Jan Lokayukta Bill would be a priority of his Aam Aadmi Party government. The Kejriwal government in its previous 49-day tenure had resigned after failing to get the bill passed in the Delhi assembly last year.

The AAP, which returned to power by winning 67 of the 70 seats in the assembly elections, had positioned the Jan Lokayukta Bill as one of its key poll promises.

The bill was to be tabled in the assembly in June but at that time the city government and Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung were engaged in a bitter row over the transfer of bureaucrats, and the matter had reached President Pranab Mukherjee, the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court.

According to sources, earlier this month, the AAP government had sent a list of five former judges to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court for the post of Lokayukta, which has been lying vacant since November 2013.

As per Delhi Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act 1995, the Lokayukta is appointed after consultations with the chief justice of High Court and the leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly.

The Act also says that only a chief justice or a high court judge having seven years of experience are eligible for Lokayukta's post.