- शुक्रबार, ७ वैशाख, २०८१
NEW DELHI, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) — The Upper House of Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Tuesday passed the historic anti- corruption Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill, at an atmosphere of rare political consensus by almost all major political parties.
“The landmark bill has been passed after a debate in the Upper House ,” Indian Law Minister Kapil Sibal told the media in the national capital. The Lower House of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) will take up the bill Wednesday. Subsequently, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee will sign it into law.
Veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare has said that he would break his fast unto death only if the Lokpal Bill is passed.
The anti-corruption bill has been drawn up by prominent civil society activists, including Hazare, seeking the appointment of a Lokpal, an independent body that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within one year and conduct trials for the case within the next year.
The draft bill envisaged a system in which a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth confiscated. It also sought power for the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without requiring government permission. The Indian government has presented the bill before the Parliament after making amendments.
India jails three Nepalese for US tourist gang-rape
An Indian court on Tuesday sentenced three Nepalese men to 20 years in jail for the gang-rape of a US tourist in June, police said.
A district judge handed down the punishment at the end of the trial in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, local police said in a statement.RSS
