Civil society not to be used again in drafting of law: Sibal

Mtoday news / NDTV

New Delhi, June 26:  After a not-so-pleasant experience of engaging with Anna Hazare’s team in drafting of the Lokpal Bill, the government says that there will be no such experiment in the future.

 

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, one of the key members of the joint committee for drafting the Lokpal Bill, also maintains that it cannot be cited as a precedent.

He says the draft of the bill will undergo changes after consultations with political parties and other members of the civil society.

"I don’t say it is a precedent. In the given situation, the government was in, it is a decision that we took with open eyes and I don’t consider it to be a precedent... the government was in a particular situation," Sibal told PTI in an interview.

He was asked if in the future some activists could resort to agitation to be part of the law-making process.

Asked if it was a "one-off" episode, the noted lawyer-turned-politician said, "I would imagine so."

Sibal emphasised that the draft bill prepared by the five ministers was not the "final bill" and "it will go through changes when we get inputs not just from other political parties but also other members of civil society".

The government is holding a meeting with political parties on the issue on July 3.