New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) The government, at the start of parliament’s winter session, had promised to pass four anti-graft laws but none of them saw the light of day due to lack of support in the two houses.
The 24-day winter session ended Thursday midnight following a drama over the Lokpal bill, a key anti-corruption legislation to set up an all-powerful ombudsman at the centre as well as in states.
The Lokpal bill was passed in the Lok Sabha but hit a stumbling block in the Rajya Sabha where the proposed legislation was not put to vote even after an 11-hour long debate.
The other three legislations that were blocked after their introduction in parliament are judicial accountability, citizen’s charter and whistleblowers bill.
The whistleblowers bill was passed in the Lok Sabha but could not even be taken up in the upper house on the last day of the winter session.
The judicial accountability bill which was moved in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, along with a constitutional amendment bill relating to the retirement age of high court judges, was kept in limbo. The passage of the constitutional amendment bill was impossible because the government does not have the required two-third majority in the lower house.
The citizens charter bill that spells out responsibilities of government departments towards citizens, their right to delivery of goods and services, and redressal of their grievances in a time-bound manner was introduced in the Lok Sabha Tuesday.
But the bill has been referred to a standing committee for some amendments because MPs objected to certain provisions.
