LOKPAL A Lokpal is a proposed ombudsman (Legal Representative) in India.

The Lokpal Bill provides for filing complaints of corruption against the prime minister, other ministers, and Members of Parliament with the ombudsman.The Administrative Reform Commision recommended it.It is an institution for not only 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. Role * The bill proposes to establish autonomous and independent institutions called Lokpal at the central level and and Lokayukta for states. These shall have powers of superintendence and direction for holding a preliminary inquiry, causing an investigation to be made and prosecution of offences in respect of complaints under any law for the prevention of corruption. Structure The Lokpal will consist of a chairperson and a maximum of eight members of which fifty percent shall be judicial members. Fifty percent of members shall be from amongst Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), minorities and women. It has an inquiry wing for conducting the preliminary inquiry and a separate independent prosecution wing. Officers of the Lokpal will include the secretary, director of prosecution, director of inquiry and other officers.

Process of selection The selection of chairperson and members of Lokpal shall be through a selection committee consisting of prime minister, Lok Sabha speaker, Lok Sabha leader of opposition, chief justice of India or a sitting Supreme Court judge nominated by chief justice. Eminent jurist to be nominated by the president of India. A search committee to assist selection committee in the process of selection. Fifty percent of members of search committee shall be from amongst SC, ST, OBCs, minorities and women.

Jurisdiction: Prime minister has been brought under the purview of the Lokpal with specific exclusions. Lokpal can not hold any inquiry against the prime minister if allegations relate to international relations, external and internal security of the country, public order, atomic energy and space.

Any decision of Lokpal to initiate preliminary inquiry or investigation against prime minister shall be taken only by the full bench with a 3/4th majority. Such proceedings shall be held in camera. Its jurisdiction to include all categories of public servants including Group 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D' officers and employees of government. On complaints referred by Lokpal, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will send its report in respect of Group 'A' and 'B' officers back to Lokpal for further decision. With respect to Group 'C' and 'D' employees, the CVC will proceed further in exercise of its own powers under the CVC act subject to reporting and review by Lokpal. All entities receiving donations from foreign sources in the context of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) in excess of Rs.10 lakh per year are brought under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal. Lokpal will not be able to initiate suo moto inquiries.

Other significant features of the Bill: No prior sanction shall be required for launching prosecution in cases enquired by Lokpal or initiated on the direction and with the approval of Lokpal. Provisions for confiscation of property acquired by corrupt means, even while prosecution is pending. Lokpal to be final appellate authority on all decisions by public authorities relating to provision of public services and redressal of grievances containing findings of corruption. Lokpal to have power of superintendence and direction over any investigation agency including Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for cases referred to them.

Major Advantages of Lokpal Bill a)A relevant factor is that corruption-free governance which lokpal bill will be providing is a basic human right, more so in a developing country. In India it is a judicially recognised enforceable right derived from guaranteed fundamental rights. The Human Development Report, 1999 on the theme of Crisis of Governance in South Asia, identified corruption as a major cause for that crisis. A strong Lokpal to combat the malaise of corruption is a clarion call of the nation; and it is also a means to address the constitutional promise made in the directive principles of State policy as well as for eradication of poverty-the foremost Millennium Development Goal.

b)The Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public. In a country the size of India, with a population in excess of 1.2 billion,

exactly how the mechanism will work is not well explained. It appears that this will involve the setting up of a large bureaucracy. The irony of setting up a bureaucracy to look into corruption in bureaucracies should not be lost on anyone.The Lokpal will protect whistle-blowers, have police rights, determine punishments, and the list of responsibilities of the Lokpal goes on and on. c)The Lokpal will be granted powers to initiate Prosecution against anyone found guilty. This implies some kind of a parallel judiciary and law enforcement mechanism. Lokpal bill assumes that whats broken cant be fixed. On the contrary other element of the Jan Lokpal bill is the rampant vigilantism that this will lead to. The corruption reporting mechanism is sure to be misused, overused and abused. The delegitimization of current government institutions, which is the basis for the Lokpal, could be counterproductive, and lead to more social instability and not less.

Major Disadvantages of Lokpal Bill The existing lokpal bill proposed by the government is quite toothless and has glaring loopholes which make the whole anti-corruption exercise a sham exercise.The whole selection process,powers and member of Lokpal give rise to vested interests and would make it a fruitless bill.The deficiencies of the government version of the Lokpal are: a) Selection of 3 retired judges by the ruling government only to the Lokpal Panel.It will give rise to vested interests,On the other hand Jan Lokpal advocates selection of any eminent citizen who has fought against corruption.Selection will be made by government,civil society members and judiciary. b) Bureaucrats outside the purview of the Lokpal Bill,Speaker Power.This is a huge loophole as government bureaucrats have been found to be ringleaders in most corruption scams taking place in the country.The recent CVC case where PJ Thomas was implicated and Supreme Court had to force the government to remove him. c) No Sou Moto Recognition of Legal Cases Complaints against the Legislature Members can only be made to the Speaker of Parliament who can decide.This makes no sense as Speakers in India have sullied their image with repeated partisanship to their party.Independent and impartial speakers in Indian parliaments are hard to find.Jan Lokpal can take Sou Moto cases d) No Defence or Foreign Matter Jurisdiction Again most of the large scams have taken place in Defence Deals.This has happened under the rule of both the main political parties.Bofors,HDW Submarine are some of the bigger Defence Scandals.Lokpal will have no authority to investigate these.The Jan Lokpal version allows investigations into such cases.Exceptions are only allowed in existing cases before judiciary or currently held legislation.It also imposes strict jail terms for corruption cases. e)Lokpal shall not have any jurisdiction to conduct any inquiry into any allegation against the President, Vice-President or the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice or any other Judge of Supreme court ,the comptroller and Auditer-genral of India, the Chief Election Commissioner or other Election Commissioners or the chairman or any other Member of the UPSC.

f)Lokpal will only with be an advisory body with a role limited to forwarding reports to a "Competent Authority".It will not have the power to initate prosecution of anyone found guilty.It will have no police powers and no ability to register an FIR or proceed with criminal investigation.