Lokpal Bill

The Lokpal will be a three-member body with a chairperson who is or was a chief justice or Supreme Court judge, and two members who are or have been high courts judges or chief justices.

Implementation of the Lokpal bill will hopefully reduce corruption in India.
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 the prime minister, other ministers and members of parliament with the ombudsman.

Anyone, except for a public servant, can file a complaint and the Lokpal has to complete the inquiry within six months.For 42 years, governments have tried to put in place the law.

The bill was for the first time presented during the fourth Lok Sabha in 1968, and was passed there in 1969. However, the Lok Sabha was dissolved, resulting in the first death of the bill.It was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008.

In September 2004, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government would lose no time in enacting the bill. Nevertheless, strong lobbies blocked it.

The bill's supporters consider existing laws too weak and insufficiently enforced to stop corruption

Key features of proposed bill

1.     To establish a central government anti-corruption institution called Lokpal, supported by Lokayukta at the state level.

2.     As in the case of the Supreme Court and Cabinet Secretariat, the Lokpal will be supervised by the Cabinet Secretary and the Election Commission. As a result, it will be completely independent of the government and free from ministerial influence in its investigations.

3.     Members will be appointed by judges, Indian Administrative Service officers with a clean record, private citizens and constitutional authorities through a transparent and participatory process.

4.     A selection committee will invite shortlisted candidates for interviews, video recordings of which will thereafter be made public.

5.     Every month on its website, the Lokayukta will publish a list of cases dealt with, brief details of each, their outcome and any action taken or proposed. It will also publish lists of all cases received by the Lokayukta during the previous month, cases dealt with and those, which are pending.

6.     Investigations of each case must be completed in one year. Any resulting trials should be concluded in the following year, giving a total maximum process time of two years.

7.     Losses caused to the government by a corrupt individual will be recovered at the time of conviction.

8.     Government office work required by a citizen that is not completed within a prescribed time period will result in Lokpal imposing financial penalties on those responsible, which will then be given as compensation to the complainant.

9.     Complaints against any officer of Lokpal will be investigated and completed within a month and, if found to be substantive, will result in the officer being dismissed within two months.

10. The existing anti-corruption agencies (CVC, departmental vigilance and the anti-corruption branch of the CBI) will be merged into Lokpal , which will have complete power and authority to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

11. Whistleblowers who alert the agency to potential corruption cases will also be provided with protection by it.