Lokpal: India’s Anti-Corruption Ombudsman

Imagine a complaint against a powerful minister. Who should investigate it? The police report to the government. The minister may even control the officers. This is the old problem of corruption in high office: the watcher is often weaker than the watched. India’s answer was the Lokpal, a national ombudsman. Why did it take almost fifty years to arrive, and what can it really do?

1How Did the Lokpal Idea Begin?

• The word ombudsman comes from Scandinavia. Sweden had such an officer long ago. His job was to hear citizens’ complaints against officials.
• India borrowed the idea in the 1960s. The first Administrative Reforms Commission, set up in 1966, recommended a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the States.
• Many States moved first and set up their own Lokayuktas. The Centre lagged behind.
• Then came a long wait. Bills were brought to Parliament again and again, and each time they lapsed.
• Why? A strong Lokpal could investigate ministers. Governments in power were not keen to build such a body.
• The turning point came in 2011. Anna Hazare’s fast at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi drew huge crowds. They demanded a strong Lokpal Bill.
• Parliament finally passed the law in December 2013.

2What Does the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 Say?

• The law is the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013. It got the President’s assent on 1 January 2014 and came into force on 16 January 2014.
• It is the law that finally turned a fifty-year-old idea into an institution.
• Notice what kind of body this makes. The Lokpal is statutory. Parliament made it by an ordinary Act. The Constitution does not mention it.
• The same Act covers two levels. It sets up the Lokpal for the Centre. It also requires every State to set up a Lokayukta within one year.
• Each State still designs its own Lokayukta law. So Lokayuktas differ from State to State.
• The Lokpal has its own Inquiry Wing and Prosecution Wing. One looks into complaints. The other takes cases to court.

3Who Sits on the Lokpal and Who Picks Them?

• The Lokpal has a Chairperson and up to eight Members.
• At least half of the Members must be judicial members. This is the rule behind the favourite exam trap.
• At least half must also come from the SC, ST, OBC, minority or women categories.
• The Chairperson and Members must be at least 45 years old. They serve for five years or until age 70, whichever comes first.
• A five-member selection committee picks them. It has the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India (or a judge named by the CJI), and one eminent jurist.
• See the idea behind it? The committee mixes the ruling side, the opposition and the judiciary. No single side can pick the watchdog alone.

4Whom Can the Lokpal Investigate?

• The Lokpal covers the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, and Central Government officials of Groups A, B, C and D.
• The Prime Minister is covered, but with care. Complaints about international relations, security, public order, atomic energy and space are excluded.
• Any inquiry against the PM must be held in private. It also needs the approval of two-thirds of the full Lokpal bench.
• The Lokpal is a specialised body for corruption. It does not hear ordinary civil, criminal or service disputes. Those stay with the courts.
• The Act sets time limits. A preliminary inquiry is to be finished in 60 days. The CBI investigation that may follow has six months, which the Lokpal can extend if the CBI asks in writing.
• If a complaint against the Prime Minister is dismissed, the records are not published and not shown to anyone. This protects against false and political complaints.
• State officials are mostly outside its reach. That gap is filled by the State Lokayuktas.

5Why Did the First Chairperson Take Five Years?

• Here is a strange story. The Act came into force in January 2014. But the Lokpal had no Chairperson for five years.
• The reason lay in the selection committee. It needs a Leader of the Opposition. The 16th Lok Sabha (2014 to 2019) had no recognised Leader of the Opposition.
• Without that member, the committee could not function. A 2016 amendment helped by letting the leader of the largest opposition party take that seat.
• In March 2019, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose became the first Chairperson of the Lokpal.
• Justice Ghose’s term ended in May 2022. After that, Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, a judicial member, acted as Chairperson until February 2024.
• Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar, a former Supreme Court judge, took charge as Chairperson on 10 March 2024.

6What Do the State Lokayuktas Do?

• A Lokayukta is the State-level counterpart of the Lokpal. Several States had one long before the Centre did.
• Each Lokayukta answers to its own State, not to the Centre.
• The 2013 Act made it compulsory for States to have one. But it left the shape of the office to each State.
• That is why powers, tenure and appointment rules differ. A Lokayukta in one State may be stronger than in another.
• The two systems fit together. The Lokpal watches Delhi. The Lokayuktas watch State capitals and district offices.
• This is why the Act asked every State to set one up. A national body alone could not reach every office.

7What Should You Remember for Exams?

Must Know

• The Lokpal is India’s national anti-corruption ombudsman.
• It is statutory, created by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
• The Act came into force on 16 January 2014.

Good to Know

• One Chairperson and up to eight Members.
• At least 50% are judicial members.
• The first Chairperson was Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, in March 2019.

Great to Know

• The Lokpal is not a constitutional body (Trap).
• It does cover the Prime Minister, with exclusions (Trap).
• Most Members are not non-judicial; at least half must be judicial (Trap).
• The delay to 2019 came from the missing Leader of the Opposition (Trap).