NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday said it would confer constitutional status on the proposed Lokpal, embracing the idea mooted by Rahul Gandhi.

"We are working on a very strong Lokpal bill. A Lokpal bill that will come with a constitutional amendment. That amendment will give the Lokpal the status of a constitutional authority," law minister Salman Khurshid told PTI on Tuesday.

Khurshid, who gave Rahul the credit for the move, further said the Lokpal would be "more powerful than the Election Commission", "will have far greater powers" as well as a profile and stature that is "much higher".

The new thinking on Lokpal seems to be designed to outmanoeuvre civil society activists as well as political opponents. It comes at a time when the Hazare campaign has upped the ante again, and Khurshid's disclosure coincided with the inauguration of L K Advani's rath yatra against graft.

The version proposed by the government is more radical than what civil society activists had asked for
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com