Naveen Patnaik declines to send opinion

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the State Government would like to submit its views on the proposed Lokpal Bill in its entirety and not restrict to the six issues sent as a  questionnaire by the Centre.In a letter on May 31 to the chief ministers, the Centre had sought views on the Bill. Naveen suggested that the Centre may finalise the draft of the Lokpal legislation on which the State Government will be able to give its views. The appropriate time to do this will be before the presentation of the Bill in Parliament.As the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was not consulted at the time of constitution of the Lokpal committee for drafting the Bill, the party MPs will give their opinion in Parliament, a senior party leader said. Committee chairman and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had sought the opinion of the State governments on six issues. Mukherjee said the civil society members have demanded that there should be a single Act for both the Lokpal in the Centre and Lokayukta in the State.The other points related to bringing the Prime Minister and judges within the purview of the Lokpal.   Mukherjee, in the questionnaire, had also sought to know whether the conduct of MPs inside Parliament should be brought within the purview of the Lokpal. The Centre also wanted the State’s view on whether civil servants should be subjected to inquiry by the Lokpal.