Dizzy Lokpal Bill cleared by the Cabinet:complete Report

Cabinet on Thursday( 31,Jan 2013) cleared the amended version of Lokpal Bill suggested by the standing committee of Rajya Sabha. Out of 16 amendments suggested by the standing committee 14 were accepted(click here to see the suggested amendments).
However as usual the bill is still in critically weak state. Major points that were demanded by the public to strengthen the bill are still missing.

WEAKNESSES of the cleared lokpal amendment

• Most stupid point the bill cleared by the cabinet is that political parties are out of the jurisdiction of the anti-corruption institute. |i.e even if such a bill passed then the lokpal will not be able to investigate the corruption in the political parties of the nation!Then what the hell will the lokpal be investigating?|
• The demand for the appointment of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) chief by a group comprising the PM, leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of India in order to prevent the government control on CBI was also rejected by the the cabinet. | i.e CBI will still be under the control of government as appointment of the chief will  not be made by the independent group|
• The amended draft also leaves the implementation of Lokayukta bill(state version of lokpal)) and appointment of Lokayuktas to the states.|This decision of making lokayukta a state defined creation is wrong as it will make Lokayukta different in every state leading to difficult usage of bill in multi-state corruption cases.Moreover state governments may also use their own scissors on the bill to hide their level of corruption Click HERE for complete point-wise analysis on this  |
• Public servant facing an inquiry by the Lokpal will be given an opportunity to be heard at the stage of the preliminary inquiry.
• Lokpal  will have a prosecution wing of its own but will not have a say in the transfer of officials investigating a case taken up by it. |Another epic non-sense|
• The CBI will report to the lokpal with regard to cases under lokpal scrutiny and the body will be able to ask any relevant agency to take up an investigation. |However CBI is still under the potential control of government. So this step can't undo that flaw|

Arvind Kejriwal had demanded, "Why does the government not fulfill one single demand and make the CBI independent. There is no point making committees after committees."

 Anna Hazare had also demanded that the CVC and CBI be brought under the Lokpal. "I have written a letter to Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister asking whether CBI and CVC will be under the Lokpal. If they're not, how will we check corruption," questioned Anna. 

Source:http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/cbi-under-lokpal-supervision-as-cabinet-clears-bill_816333.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-clears-Lokpal-Bill-with-amendments-keeps-parties-out-of-its-ambit/articleshow/18280578.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/it-makes-no-sense-to-exempt-political-parties-from-lokpals-ambit/articleshow/18282642.cms

Lokpal in present form(by GOI) does not address our concerns: CBI

Appearing before the Rajya Sabha Select Committee examining the Lokpal Bill on , CBI Director AP Singh said that Lokpal Bill in its present form( Lokpal 2011, made by government ) "seriously compromises" CBI's autonomy of investigation and does not address its concerns(para 1,3and4) as well as the lokpal's original aim (para 2) itself!

1. CBI said that it also  does not deal at all with the issue of agency's dependence on government over financial and administrative matters.
   
2.  CBI said one of the major points of the Lokpal bill movement by Team Anna was to give greater autonomy and independence to the investigation agency .But in Lokpal 2011 this does not seem to have happened.
3. CBI accepted that dependence of CBI on the government in financial and administrative matters is both causative and reinforcing factor for the public perception that CBI can be influenced by the government and that the investigations are not immune to government's interference and pressure.
4. So in solution to financial dependence of cbi over government it proposed creation of a separate Demand for Grant for it from the Consolidated Fund of India. It said the CBI chief should be the 'grant controlling authority' and 'chief accounting authority' for the grant. "The Director, CBI would exercise power of Secretary to Government of India as provided under the delegation of financial power rules, 1978"
5. it also asked that CBI director should have "full authority" in appointment, extension and curtailment of tenure of officers upto the rank of DIG in the agency and  also proposed that the CBI chief should be included as a member of selection committee for appointment of other officers above the rank of DIG in the department. The Delhi Special Police Establishment Act - which governs CBI - should be amended accordingly.
6. Cbi also asked that in a veiled reference to its differences with Law Officers, CBI said it should have powers to engage special counsels and specialists of different disciplines.
7. CBI directoar also asked that  instead of two years, the tenure of  Director  should be increased to five years to ensure proper continuity and supervision of important cases and to help him implement "strategic vision" to improve the organisation.

Sourcehttp://ibnlive.in.com/news/lokpal-in-present-form-doesnt-address-concerns-cbi/271191-3.html