DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY,LUCKNOW

2019-20
Final Draft
CIVIL SOCIETY AND PUBLIC GRIEVANCES

LOKPAL BILL

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr. Rajneesh Kumar Yadav Deepak Kumar Rav

Assistant Professor (Law) Enrolment No. 160101059

Dr. RMLNLU, Lucknow. BA.LLB (Hons), VIII Semester

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We want to express uncommon much obliged and appreciation to our teacher Dr. Rajneesh
Kumar Yadav who gave us the brilliant chance to finalize this glorious research subject.

All through the exploration period, We have been guided by our educator at whatever point
were confronted any obstacles or were in a state of daze not having the capacity to resolve
the intricacies of the subject.

We want to thank my University, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University,
Lucknow, for giving us the opportunity to be a part of a novel exploration turned
educational program which without a doubt helps the comprehension of the subject.

We likewise want to thank our guardians, guides and well-wishers who have been a
consistent underpin and have sufficient energy and again looked into our work and have
given their experiences on the matter.

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 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………...……4

HISTORY………………………………………………………………………5

LOKPAL BILL………………………………………………………………...6

SIGNIFICANCE OF BILL…………………………………………………….7

OBJECTIVES OF BILL……………………………………..…………………8

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………….11

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 INTRODUCTION

India is a country where honesty and integrity in public and private life have been glorified
and upheld in great epics such as the Vedas, Upanishads and in the books and practices of
every religion practiced here.

Yet, India today is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Bringing public servants under a scanner which makes them strictly accountable is the start
of a movement against corruption in India. And one significant step in attacking the spectre
of corruption in India will be the implementation of the lok pal bill.

The Indian Lokpal is synonymous to the institution of Ombudsman existing in the

Scandinavian countries. The office of the ombudsman originated in Sweden in 1809 A.D.,
and adopted eventually by many nations 'as a bulwark of democratic government against the
tyranny of officialdom'. Ombudsman is a Swedish word that stands for "an officer appointed
by the legislature to handle complaints against administrative and judicial action.
Traditionally the ombudsman is appointed based on unanimity among all political parties
supporting the proposal. The incumbent, though appointed by the legislature, is an
independent functionary - independent of all the three organs of the state, but reports to the
legislature. The Ombudsman can act both on the basis of complaints made by citizens, or
suo moto. She/he can look into allegations of corruption as well as mal-administration.1

The functionary is called by different names in different countries; its power and functions
also vary. In the Scandinavian countries 2 (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway) he is called
the 'Ombudsman'. He can take cognizance of the citizens' grievance by either directly
receiving complaints from the public or suo moto on the basis of information provided by
the interested persons, or from newspapers, etc. However, in the U.K. the functionary -
known as the Parliamentary Commissioner - can receive complains only through members
of parliament.

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 HISTORY

The misdeeds committed during the Emergency remind us of the necessity of including the
PM within the purview of the Lokpal.

The basic idea of the Lok Pal is borrowed from the office of ombudsman, which has played
an effective role in checking corruption and wrong-doing in Scandinavian and other
nations.3

In early 1960s, mounting corruption in public administration set the winds blowing in favour
of an Ombudsman in India too.

The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in 1966 recommended the

constitution of a two-tier machinery - of a Lokpal at the Centre, and Lokayukt(a)s in the
states.4 The ARC while recommending the constitution of Lokpal was convinced that such
an institution was justified not only for removing the sense of injustice from the minds of
adversely affected citizens but also necessary to instill public confidence in the efficiency of
administrative machinery. Following this, the Lokpal Bill was for the first time presented
during the fourth Lok Sabha in 1968, and was passed there in 1969.

However, while it was pending in the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved, resulting
the first death of the bill. The bill was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001,
2005 and most recently in 2008.

Each time, after the bill was introduced to the house, it was referred to some committee for
improvements - a joint committee of parliament, or a departmental standing committee of
the Home Ministry - and before the government could take a final stand on the issue the
house was dissolved.

There are as many as 17 states where the institution of Lokayukta has been constituted,
beginning with Orissa in 1971. However the power, function and jurisdiction of Lokayuktas
are not uniform in the country.

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In some states it has been applicable to all the elected representatives including the CM. In
some other states legislators have been deliberately kept out of his purview. Often, lacunae
have been left in legislation creating the office, apparently to keep the elected
representatives outside meaningful jurisdiction of the Lokayukta, even when the laws appear
to include them. Lokayuktas have not been provided with their independent investigative
machinery making them dependent on the government agencies, which leaves enough scope
for the politicians and the bureaucrats to tinker with the processes of investigation.

What is Lokpal Bill ?

The Lokpal is a proposed body to be enacted as a law by Parliament, which will be headed
by a chairperson who is or was a Chief Justice of India and eight other members.

The Lokpal Bill, an effort to rein in the pervasive corruption in public life, was first mooted
in the late 60s, However, it failed to become law despite successive attempts.

The basic idea of the Lokpal is borrowed from the office of the ombudsman in other
countries. It provides for filing complaints of corruption against ministers and members of
parliament with the ombudsman.

The government's Lokpal Bill has kept the Prime Minister and the judiciary as well as
conduct of MPs in Parliament out of the ambit of the anti-corruption watchdog. The PM,
however, will come under the purview of Lokpal after he demits office.

The bill gives permission to Lokpal to probe any Union minister or officials of Group 'A'
and above rank without any sanction.

According to the government's draft, the body will have a chairperson and eight members,
including four judicial members - who will be former or sitting judges of Supreme Court or
chief justices of the high court.

The Lok Ayuktas in the states does not come under the purview of this bill as the Centre
cannot intervene in the powers of the state.

The Lokpal will have its own prosecution and investigation wing with officers and staff
necessary to carry out its functions.

What is Anna Hazare and civil society's proposed Jan Lokpal Bill for which

they are fighting for?

The Jan Lokpal Bill, also referred to as the citizens' ombudsman bill, is intended as a more
effective improvement to the original Lokpal Bill that is currently being proposed by the the
government. The prefix 'Jan' (citizens) has been added to highlight the fact that these
improvements include inputs from ordinary citizens through an activist-driven, non-
governmental public consultation.

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The arguments given in favour of the Jan Lokpal Bill is that if made into a law, it will create
an independent ombudsman body outside government control that will have the power to
register and investigate complaints against politicians and public servants without the need
to get a prior approval from the government. The proponents of Jan Lokpal Bill believe that
it will effectively redress citizen's grievances, protect whistle-blowers and more importantly,
deter corruption.

The first lokpal bill was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969 but could not get through in
Rajya Sabha, subsequently, Lokpal bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996,
1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008, yet they were never passed. Th lokpal bill was visualised as
the watchdog institution or ministerial probity. Broadly the provisions of different bills
empowered the Lokpal to investigate corruption cases against political persons at the central
level.

Main objective of the bill is to provide speedy, cheaper form of justice to people.

In the proposed system lokpal will have complete powers to dismiss a corrupt official.

Lokpal will have powers to probe or prosecute any judge, even CJI, without any permission
while in present scenario CJI permission is required even to register FIR against any judge.

Also, in the proposed system, politicians will not have any say in selections of chairperson
and members of lokpal.

Loss caused to government will be recovered from accused.

The punishment if found guilty will be 5 years to maximum life term in the proposed
system.

Right now the punishment is 6 months to maximum 7 years.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BILL

The passing of the present Bill by both Houses on this occasion is indicative of the resolve
of the Parliament and the Government to give to the nation an effective anti-corruption
framework. 

Another significant feature of the Bill is that it has taken its present shape after repeated
consultations with all stake holders including civil society. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill
is perhaps the only Bill in the history of independent India, which has been so widely
discussed, both inside and outside Parliament and has, thus generated so much awareness in
the public mind about the need to have an effective institution of Lokpal to tackle
corruption. 

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OBJECTIVES OF THE BILL

The Lokpal was visualized as the watchdog institution on ministerial probity. Broadly the
provisions of different bills empowered the Lokpal to investigate corruption cases against
political persons at the Central level. Some important features of the Lokpal Bill have varied
over the years; in its most recent avatar, the bill contains the following.

 The main objective is to provide speedy, cheaper from of justice to people.

 Members:

Lokpal is to be a three member body with a chairperson who is or has been a chief
justice or judge of the Supreme Court; and its two other members who are or have
been judges or chief justices of high courts around the country.
 Appointment :

The chairperson and members shall be appointed by the President by warrant under
his hand and seal on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the following
persons. It's not clear whether the committee has to make a unanimous decision or a
majority decision will do. (a) The Vice-President (Chairman) (b) The PM (c) The
Speaker of LS (d) Home Minister (e) Leader of the House, other than the house in
which PM is a member. (f) Leaders of Opposition of both the houses.

 Independence of the Office:

In order to ensure the independence of functioning of the august office, the following
provisions have been incorporated.

o Appointment is to be made on the recommendation of a committee.

o The Lokpal is ineligible to hold any office of profit under Government of
India or of any state, or similar such posts after retirement.

o Fixed tenure of three years and can be removed only on the ground of proven
misbehaviour or incapacity after an inquiry made by CJI and two senior most
judges of SC.

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 o Lokpal will have its own administrative machinery for conducting
investigations.

o Salary of Lokpal is to be charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.

 Jurisdiction of Lokpal:
o The central level political functionaries like the Council of Ministers
including the Prime Minister, the Members of Parliament etc.

o He can not inquire into any allegation against the PM in relation to latter's
functions of national security and public order.

o Complaints of offence committed within 10 years from the date of complaint

can be taken up for investigation, not beyond this period.

 Any person other than a public servant can make a complaint. The Lokpal is
supposed to complete the inquiry within a period of six months. The Lokpal has the
power of a civil court to summon any person or authority. After investigation, the
ombudsman can only recommend actions to be taken by the competent authority. A
number of safeguards have been taken to discourage false complains or complain of
malafide intent.

 He can order search and seizure operations.

 He shall present annually to the President the reports of investigation and the latter
with the action take report has to put it before the both houses of parliament.

It may be noted that the Lokpal is supposed to investigate cases of corruption only, and not
address himself to redressing grievances in respect of injustices and hardship caused by
maladministration.

Very recently a highly discouraging phenomenon has come to light, that is, the prevalence
of corruption in the subordinate courts and even in High Courts. Probably due to this, the
present government has planned to bring the Judiciary within the purview of Lok pal; this is
one reason why the Bill has been referred to the Group of Ministers. However given the

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history of Lok pal bill, there is a constant risk that the bill will simply lapse because no
conclusion is reached within the life of this Lok Sabha!

The political fraternity is understandably opposed to a Lok pal, since the purported target of
the Lokpal is mainly the politicians themselves. The publicly stated reason for the current
delay is that some important issues are as yet unresolved

The ombudsmen can investigate a complaint by themselves or through any public or private
agency. After investigation, in Sweden and Finland, the Ombudsman has the power to
prosecute erring public servants; whereas in Denmark, he can only order prosecution.
However, the power of prosecution is very rarely used. The strength of the ombudsman lies
in the publicity attached to the office, and the negative view that attaches itself to all that the
office scrutinises. In Sweden and Finland, ombudsmen can also supervise the courts. In
other countries, their authority is only over the non-judicial public servants. In almost all the
cases they deal with complaints relating to both corruption and mal-administration.

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 CONCLUSION

The main objective behind the institution of Lokpal is to give strength to citizens so that
they can raise their voice against corruption without any fear. The existing devices like CVC
and CBI for checks on elected and administrative officials have not been effective, as the
growing instances of corruption cases suggest. All these have necessitated the creation of
Lokpal with its own investigating team.

Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism that would adopt very simple, independent,
speedy and cheaper means of delivering justice by redressing the grievances of the people.
But our Country is famous for its beautiful numerous laws and its poor execution. Most of
the laws have been proved fail to achieve its goal. No law or institution would have been
helped to remove deep roots of corruption from our country without its proper execution.

In the regular dispensation of government there are implicit and explicit ways that citizens
can voice their grievances and demand change. But these are often difficult. Within
administrative departments, for example, any decision of one official can be appealed to a
higher official, all the way up to the head of a department. However, this mechanism has
inherent flaws. Higher officers enjoy departmental fraternity with those against whom
complaints are made, and both sail the same boat. Therefore their impartiality in judging
appeals is always doubted. On the legislative side, an individual can approach the member
representing his constituency for his demands. But given the absence of easy access of an
ordinary citizen to his representative, this has more remained a myth more than reality.
Among the organs of state, the Judiciary has proved itself to have highest credibility in
protecting individual rights. However, due to procedural complexities involved in court
cases - right from filing a case to the delivery of final verdict - there are inevitable delays of
justice, which often are also denial of justice.

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The existing devices for checks on elected and administrative officials have not been
effective, as the growing instances of corruption cases suggest. The Central Vigilance
Commission (CVC) is designed to inquire into allegations of corruption by administrative
officials only. The CBI, the premier investigating agency of the country, functions under the
supervision of the Ministry of Personnel, Public grievances and Pensions (under the Prime
Minister) and is therefore not immune from political pressures during investigation. Indeed,
the lack of independence and professionalism of CBI has been castigated by the Supreme
Court often in recent times. All these have necessitated the creation of Lokpal with its own
investigating team in earliest possible occasion.

Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism that would adopt very simple, independent,
speedy and cheaper means of delivering justice by redressing the grievances of the people.
Examples from various countries suggest that the institution of ombudsman has very
successfully fought against corruption and unscrupulous administrative decisions by public
servants, and acted as a real guardian of democracy and civil rights.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 BOOKS:-

 The Indian Administrative Law, M.C.JainKagzi (Universal Law Publishing

Co. Pvt Ltd, 6th ed., 2009)

 ARTICLES:-

 Ombudsman in India by Aamna. Published on: August 4, 2011

 The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, released by Press Information Bureau,

Government of India, available at http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?
relid=102096

 ‘Concept of Lokpal’ available at http://lawmantra.co.in/concept-of-

lokpal/#_ftnref8

 WEBSITES

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 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/All-you-want-to-know-about-
Lokpal-Bill/articleshow/27570010.cms

 http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200804051550.htm

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokpal

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