Bowing to Opposition parties' pressure, the Centre has made the consent of State governments mandatory before any notification is issued for setting up Lokayuktas.
This is part of the 10 amendments moved by the UPA Government to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill 2011 on Tuesday night in the Lok Sabha, which was later passed. It will be enacted into law only after passage by the Upper House.
By moving this amendment, the Centre has, in a way, gone back on its earlier proposal of unilaterally ushering in Lokayuktas through a Central legislation.
The climbdown came after the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, rejected the Opposition's contention that such a provision would threaten the federal structure.
However, the Lokpal Bill, as passed by the Lok Sabha, will not get constitutional status — Congress leader Mr Rahul Gandhi's proposal — as the Government did not have 272 of the 543 MPs to vote for the Bill.
The rule requires at least 50 per cent of the House to be present and voting, and out of the 50 per cent, two-third should vote in favour of the Constitutional Bill. On Tuesday, 50 per cent of the House of 543 MPs was not present.
According to the latest amendments, Lokpal can take up complaints against the Prime Minister with the consent of two-thirds of the nine-member Panel and not three-fourths, as proposed in the original Bill.
Armed forces will be excluded from the Lokpal's purview.
The proposal to empower the presiding officers to act against ministers and MPs even before the trial is completed against them was also dropped.