Administrative control of CBI a stumbling block for Lokpal Bill

NEW DELHI: Administrative control of the Central Bureau of Investigation appears to be the stumbling block for finalisation of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011.

A parliamentary select committee on the bill met Thursday and Friday, but the problem over CBI remained. The committee will now meet again on November 19, to resolve issues and finalise a draft of the bill.

According to a source present at the meeting, members of CPM, BJP and Janata Dal (U) suggested that the tenures of the CBI director, and the director of prosecution of the agency be fixed at two years to give some security of tenure and continuity.

Even if the Lokpal did not have jurisdiction over CBI, members felt that the Department of Personnel and Training should not be its administering agency.

"We have proposed that the funds for CBI be directly drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India and not administered through DoPT as we feel that this administrative control gives the government room to manipulate the agency," said a member.

"We also want the CBI director to be consulted in the appointment of officers above a certain grade in the agency," the member added.

The government, however, did not appear in any mood to dilute its position on CBI.

"Pending issues pertaining to federalism appear to have been resolved. The government has agreed that the bill will advise the setting up of state level Lok Ayuktas as per Article 252 of the Constitution, which allows the Centre to form a model law, which could be adopted by two state legislatures and then adopted by other states," said the member.

Earlier, adoption of a bill conceived and passed by the Centre and applicable to all states was envisage, even by those states which already had a Lok Ayukta.

This particular consensus was reached after the government, through newly-appointed parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath, held a series of meetings with senior Opposition leaders to forge an agreement on contentious issues with regard to the bill.