Raj Young Generation Blog

Lokpal Bill 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 ofcomplaints made by citizens, or suo moto. She/he can look into allegations of corruption as well as mal-administration. The functionary is called by different names in different countries; its power and functions also vary. In the Scandinavian countries2 (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway) he is called the 'Ombudsman'. He can take cognizance of thecitizens' 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. 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. Objectives of the Lokpal 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 orhave 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. 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 offense 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 safeguardshave 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. THE CURRENT SITUATION: 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 ofMinisters . However given the 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.