By IANS,
New Delhi : Team Anna Wednesday welcomed the government’s reported intention of giving the Lokpal (ombudsman) constitutional status but said that should not prevent it from being made a statutory body.
“Well, we have been saying that it will be great if Lokpal could be made into a constitutional authority. But making it into a constitutional authority should not prevent it from being made into a statutory body,” Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan told reporters.
Bhushan said if the constitutional amendment could not go through, the enactment of the law should as the Congress was in power at the centre.
“They (Congress) should at least ensure that an act is made… in the process of making it into a constitutional body it should not happen that the whole things falls through,” said the eminent lawyer.
He said the team would be happy if the Lokpal was made a constitutional body and the entire provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill – their version of the bill – were included.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid was reported as saying Tuesday that the government was mulling making Lokpal a constitutional body as suggested by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.