New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) The Congress said Friday that it favours the exclusion of the prime minister and the judiciary from the ambit of the proposed Lokpal bill, adding that its final views will be reflected in the stance of the cabinet and in parliament.
‘Our stand today is that the judiciary and prime minister should be outside the ambit of the Lokpal bill. This is not a conclusive stand and is subject to cabinet decision,’ Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said here.
He said the stability of government was vital and instability through undemocratic means cannot be countenanced.
Answering queries on the party’s stand on the Lokpal bill, Singhvi said that a final decision will be taken in parliament when the bill is taken up for discussion.
Singhvi denied that the party’s stance was at variance with that of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has said that he had no hesitation in bringing himself under the ambit of Lokpal bill.
Singhvi said the general view of the party and the government is that the institution of prime minister should be out of the ambit of Lokpal as its inherent stability should not be questioned.
The Congress stance on the Lokpal bill comes a day ahead of a scheduled meeting of civil society activist Anna Hazare with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Team Hazare, which was part of the joint drafting committee for Lokpal bill, has been pressing for inclusion of the prime minister and higher judiciary in the ambit of Lokpal bill.
The union ministers in the joint drafting committee have already said that the prime minister should not be included in the Lokpal bill.
With the government having called an all-party meeting on Lokpal bill July 3, Singhvi accused the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party with having no clear stand or concrete suggestion on the anti-corruption bill.
‘They are criticising for the sake of criticism. They are indulging in political opportunism,’ Singhvi said.
