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No politician should be there in Lokpal panel: Aamir

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan today threw his weight behind Anna Hazare`s campaign.

New Delhi: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan today threw his weight behind Anna Hazare`s campaign for a strong Lokpal saying the ombdusman should not be under government`s control but accountable to the people of the country.
Though he supported the view of bringing Prime Minister, judiciary and MPs under Lokpal`s purview, the actor differed with both Team Anna's and Govt's views on the selection of Lokpal. He said no politician should be in the panel and suggested that it should have four judges and four independent constitutional authorities. The Team Anna`s Bill proposes selection committee of 2 politicians, 4 judges and 2 independent constitutional authorities while government`s draft has a selection team which consists of six out of ten members directly from the ruling establishment. He was responding to a questionnaire sent by the Anna Team on key issues on Lokpal Bill, which was sent across to 250 people. On the model and structure of Lokpal, he said the same bill should provide for Lokpal at Centre and Lokayukta at state level while anti-corruption branch of CBI should be merged with Lokpal. On public grievance, Khan agreed with Team Anna view that corrupt officers should be penalized and the penalty amount should be compensated to the citizen whose work has been delayed. Aamir strongly felt that Lokpal should not be under government?s control and that he should be accountable to the people of the country, a release issued by India Against Corruption said. He also said that Lokpal should be empowered to remove corrupt public/government servants. He should also be responsible for protection of the whistle blowers and witnesses. PTI