Lokpal bill okayed, CBI can't grill Indian Army

Only two MPs didn’t attend the session, according to an Indian TV. Under the approved bill, the armed forces of India cannot be held accountable by government-controlled Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Opposition parties boycotted the vosting session, while there were 247 votes for and 178 against the bill. India s prime minister earlier warned opponents of the key anti-graft bill that they risked unleashing "chaos and anarchy" as he sought to push the divisive legislation through parliament on Tuesday. Premier Manmohan Singh spoke during a heated debate on the draft law, which was branded too weak by opposition parties and veteran activist Anna Hazare who launched a hunger strike Tuesday to demand the bill be redrafted. Parliament was convened for a special three-day session devoted to the new legislation which would create an independent "Lokpal" or ombudsman to probe corruption among senior politicians and civil servants. The main points of contention focus on the ambit of the ombudsman s office and its powers of investigation. The government bill offers only limited jurisdiction over the prime minister and requires the ombudsman to put any criminal probes in the hands of the government-controlled Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Hazare and a number of opposition parties want the ombudsman s office to have its own, independent investigative team. But Singh insisted that such a move would be tantamount to creating a separate, unelected executive that was unaccountable to parliament or the Indian people.