The Jan Lokpal Bill, also referred to as the citizens' ombudsman bill, is a proposed independent anti-corruption law in India.
The word Lokpal was introduced in 1963 by L.M.Singhvi, M.P. during a debate in Parliament about grievance redressal mechanisms. His son Dr. Abhishek Singhvi is now the head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee reviewing the bill.
The prefix Jan (citizens) was added to signify that these improvements include input provided by "ordinary citizens" through an activist-driven, non-governmental public consultation.
The Lokpal bill was first introduced by Shanti Bhushan in 1968 and passed the 4th Lok sabha in 1969. But before it could be passed by Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha was dissolved and the bill lapsed. The Subsequent versions were re-introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008, but none of them passed. The bill was inspired by the Hong Kong Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC).
In April 2011, civil activist Anna Hazare started a movement by commencing an indefinite fast in New Delhi to demand the passing of the bill. The movement attracted attention in the media, and hundreds of thousands of supporters of all ages and creed. Following Hazare's four day hunger strike, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that the bill would be re-introduced in the 2011 monsoon session of the Parliament.
Accordingly, a committee of five Cabinet Ministers and five social activists attempted to draft a compromise bill merging the two versions but failed. The Indian government went on to propose its own version in the parliament, which the activists rejected on the grounds of not being sufficiently effective, and called it a "toothless bill".
Now there are two versions of the bill one is Lokpal bill proposed by parliament which at the current state has lots of loopholes and does not serves the purpose. The Lokpal cannot, under the proposed Bill, investigate any case against the Prime Minister in the arena of external affairs and defense
Second one Jan lokpal Bill, proposed by activists lead by Anna hazare, aims to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances of citizens, and protect whistle-blowers. If made into law, the bill would create an independent ombudsman body called the Lokpal (protector of the people). It would be empowered to register and investigate complaints of corruption against politicians and bureaucrats without prior government approval.
Some important features of the proposed bill are:
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 short-listed candidates for interviews, videorecordings 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 to the government by a corrupt individual will be recovered at the time of conviction.
8. Government officework 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 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 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.
Today when I am writing this blog, Lokpal bill prepared by parliamentary committee was tabled in parliament while all the activist of Anti corruption movement are not happy with what has been proposed in the bill.
