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mrodataclassification · 3 years

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10 things that prove Kejriwal is the biggest fraud in Indian Politics.

Arvind Kejriwal has been a habitual liar in prospect to his official ranking and his party AAP’s policies. He is well known among the citizens as the man of U-Turns. There have been quite a few incidents where his declaration over the media has changed as per the requirement of the situation. Although the number of his lies far exceeds the number of days his party AAP has existed, we take a look at 10 of them that we find more worth sharing.

1. Anna Hazare’s movement was a copy of the World Bank Agenda. The main motive for this anti-corruption movement was to increase the penetration of international capital in India. Anna’s team members Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia run an NGO called Kabir, which had received $400,000 from Ford foundation. Later Kejriwal accepted in a Business Standard interview, that his NGO Kabir had received 4Lakh USD from the Ford Foundation.

2. Kejriwal had protested in Delhi asking for justice for Nirbhaya and strict punishment for rapists. On the other side, he gave a Loksabha ticket from south Bangalore to Nina P. Nayak. Nina had supported and fought for a lesser punishment for the Nirbahya Killer and most brutal rapist Muhammad Afroz. It was Muhammad Afroz who had double raped Nirbhaya, inserted Iron rot in her body, took out her intestines. Due to brutal assault by Afroz, Nirbhaya had died. Arvind Kejriwal has given justice to Nirbhaya by giving a Loksabha ticket to the savior of her rapist and murder.

3. Taking amiss at a remark by Arvind Kejriwal in 2013 that he chose to work in the public sector over being an income tax officer and earning crore. The Indian revenue service (Income tax) all India body, in an exclusive two-page letter points to Arvind Kejriwal that he had never worked on the position of IT Commissioner. In fact, his batch till date has not been promoted to that position. His unnecessary utterance was damaging their image of fine service.

4. Arvind Kejriwal said he supported the cause of poor farmers and understood their plight. Yogesh Dahia, involved in a 300 Crore scam of farmer's money is now a member of the AAP agriculture reform committee and he got the ticket from Saharanpur. The petitioners had alleged that Dahiya, who is a member of Lok Sabha, along with the then ADM Randhir Singh Chauhan and GAIL AGM K P Singh acquired the land for the GAIL pipeline, siphoned off over Rs 300 crore by not paying the adequate compensation to the farmers. In fact, 44 AAP candidates, including Mr. Kejriwal, have criminal cases against them.

5. Arvind Kejriwal said Robert Vadra should be jailed and he said he supported Ashok Kemka. Ashok Khemka had exposed Robert Vadra's illegal land deals. After Vadra was exposed, the Congress party transferred Ashok Khemka and put Yudhvir Khyalia in his place. Yudhvir made all illegal deals of Robert Vadra legal and restored all licenses of Vadra and created a charge sheet against Ashok Kemka. AAP gave a ticket to Yudhvir and now he is a member of the AAP land acquisition committee!

6. Arvind Kejriwal said he would never give the ticket to corrupt and criminals. We have seen so many instances where his candidates are criminals and corrupt both. In total 44 AAP candidates so far have criminal cases against them. M. Pushparayan from the Thoothukuddi constituency has assets worth Rs. 87lahhs, NIL Liabilities, and 380 cases filed against him. Udaykumar s. p. from the Kanyakumari constituency has assets worth Rs. 2 crores, liabilities of rs 2 lakhs, and 382 cases filed against him.

7. Arvind Kejriwal along with Shazia Ilmi in his speech at CII said that during his 49 days government there was a reduction in corruption. This information was provided by an ex-employee Transparency international. Later Transparency international sent letters and clarified that they never conducted any such surveys and there were no unpublished reports.

8. Arvind Kejriwal has given Anjali Damania a LokSabha ticket from Nagpur, Maharastra. She was involved in the irrigation land scam with her partners Switu Mehta and Vanita Ahluwalia. When people had questioned about Anjali Damania Land scams, Kejriwal called her an ordinary volunteer, but later gave her a LokSabha ticket!

9. Kejriwal on camera said no sitting MLA from his party will fight the 2014 general election but now he himself (a Delhi MLA) going to fight Loksabha election.

10. The Delhi Chief Minister had promised to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within 15 days of Government formation. But nothing was done. In fact, it backtracked saying that the Central Government had issued a directive which is why they were unable to pass the Bill in Delhi Vidhan Sabha. The truth is, the Central Government had issued the directive on Jan Lokpal Bill a long time back. Arvind Kejriwal was aware of this even before the elections in Delhi happened.

Visit: PGurus

#kejriwal govt #arvind kejriwal #10 lies #Delhi #narendra modi

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bharatiyamedia-blog · 5 years

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Lokpal Disposes Off 480 Circumstances, Asks Folks Not To File Non-Corruption Circumstances

http://tinyurl.com/y3dekevq New Delhi: Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has disposed of 480 complaints acquired by it until Could this yr, a few of which weren’t associated to graft, officers mentioned as we speak. They mentioned Lokpal has been making efforts to tell individuals to not file complaints associated to non-corruption issues with it. The Centre is but to inform a type for submitting complaints with Lokpal. “It was determined to scrutinise all of the complaints acquired within the workplace of Lokpal, in no matter type they had been despatched. 480 complaints acquired until Could 31, 2019 have been disposed off,” an official mentioned quoting the Lokpal information. After scrutiny, complaints that didn’t fall inside the mandate of the Lokpal, had been disposed off and complainants had been knowledgeable accordingly, he mentioned. Lokpal is an apex physique to cope with instances of corruption on the nationwide stage. It has to investigate into allegations of corruption towards public functionaries of central authorities in a time certain method. “Residents are suggested that different complaints associated to pension, service associated points and public grievances needs to be addressed to the respective departments on the official portals or web sites and to not the Lokpal, except it’s associated to corruption subject,” the anti-corruption ombudsman mentioned. President Ram Nath Kovind had on March 23 administered the oath of workplace to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose because the chairperson of Lokpal. Justice Ghose retired because the Supreme Courtroom decide in Could 2017. He had final served as a member of the Nationwide Human Rights Fee (NHRC). The Lokpal’s eight members had been administered the oath by Justice Ghose on March 27. Former chief justices of various excessive courts — justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi — had taken oath as judicial members of the Lokpal. Former first girl chief of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam had been sworn-in because the Lokpal”s non-judicial members. In accordance with the foundations, there’s a provision for a chairperson and a most of eight members within the Lokpal panel. Of those, 4 have to be judicial members. The Lokpal Act, which envisages appointment of a Lokpal on the Centre and Lokayuktas in states, to look into instances of corruption towards sure classes of public servants, was handed in 2013. (Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.) Get Breaking news, reside protection, and Newest News from India and all over the world on NDTV.com. Catch all of the Reside TV motion on NDTV 24×7 and NDTV India. Like us on Facebook or comply with us on Twitter and Instagram for latest news and live news updates. Budget 2019: Discover the newest information on ndtv.com/funds. Use the income tax calculator to find out about your tax legal responsibility (function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=213741912058651";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Source link

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marymosley · 5 years

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Column: Even God Cannot Shake My Faith In CJI Ranjan Gogoi

Even if God himself appears before me and says anything against this incumbent CJI Ranjan Gogoi, I will say pointblank that, “You are God and can never speak lies. But I consider this CJI Ranjan Gogoi as one who can never do anything wrong. If you say anything against me I will immediately believe it. If you say anything against anyone else I will certainly believe it. But if you say anything against this CJI Ranjan Gogoi then certainly I will refuse to believe it. If you feel bad then I can’t help it!”

Even if my own parents or my brother or my best friend Sageer Khan who when I had lost my unflinching faith in Lord Shiva took a vow from me that I shall always worship him till my last breath in 1994 or other friends whom I love dearly say anything against this CJI Ranjan Gogoi, I will still just not believe it. It is this CJI who inspite of qualifying for Civil Services opted for law as a profession and it was this CJI who decided to give up his roaring practice and become a Judge so that he can contribute for people’s welfare invaluably! Even if hundred bullets pierce my heart they would not give me so much of wound as these allegations against CJI have given me! No medicine can heal them ever! If such allegations were made even against me I would have still tolerated it but such serious allegations against this CJI who has always enjoyed an totally impeccable reputation has shattered me to the hilt but my unflinching faith in him still remains intact and shall always remain so in the future also!

It was for the first time in my life that I had noticed that a CJI took personal interest in filling up Judges vacancies at all levels. For the first time vacancies of UP HJS were issued two times in a year which is unprecedented never heard of before and even before the initial mains exams were held, fresh vacancies were notified. All the aspirants at that point of time were full of praise for him for having taken decisive action by ensuring that judicial vacancies are promptly filled!

Not just this, more than 100 vacancies of UP HJS are scheduled to be notified shortly. The same is true for other states. It is solely because this CJI Ranjan Gogoi immediately on assuming office in October last year immediately took suo motu notice of it and issued warning to all High Courts to fill up vacancies immediately or else the power of appointing Judges would be taken away from them and given either to UPSC or the Supreme Court will step in to fill in the vacancies! Has any CJI ever before acted so swiftly to ensure that judicial vacancies are filled up? Certainly not!

It is this same CJI Ranjan Gogoi who had earlier demonstrated zero tolerance against corruption at all levels and had compelled a sitting Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court to resign after allegations surfaced of corruption against that Judge! For first time in my entire life did I feel seriously that a CJI wants to reform the judicial system and fill in all the vacancies! It is a fact also which no one can deny!

It is heartening to note that this CJI Ranjan Gogoi is not afraid of any inquiry because he has nothing to hide! Why did the concerned woman who has made serious allegations against CJI Ranjan Gogoi not complained immediately against him to the police? Why did she take such a long time to speak up?

�� Why she has not produced any clinching evidence to prove her point? Why did she keep quiet for a long period? Why didn’t she immediately speak up? This itself speaks for what is the real story!

If any sane person goes through his rulings they will speak for themselves what type of character he has! He has never hesitated to take action against top politicians and top bureaucrats and powerful people! Who can behave like this? Only an honest person with an impeccable character!

This alone explains why in my humble article titled “CJI Ranjan Gogoi Is Determined To Ensure Sweeping Changes In Judiciary” I have not praised him extravagantly but written what is the real truth! We all know that it is this CJI Gogoi who has ensured that no senior advocate is given out of turn hearing! It is this CJI who laid down strict rules for arguing cases!

I have no axe to grind with this CJI and if in future I decide to ever practice in Supreme Court, he (CJI Gogoi) would have retired by then as he has just few months left! So there is no reason why I will ever bat for him for some vested cause! I will not hide that I was certainly disappointed when he appreciated the issue of setting up a high court bench in West UP as more than 9 crore people of 26 districts were being compelled foolishly to travel so far to Allahabad just to attend a court hearing as there is no bench here because both high court and single bench at Lucknow are in Eastern UP but said that it was for Centre to take the decision when a woman lawyer KL Chitra filed PIL last year! When Centre fails to act for more than 70 years in setting up a bench in West UP even though it lost no time to set up a bench at Lucknow in 1948 on July 1 then judiciary must act and moreso when the Bench issue is directly connected with judiciary and when Justice Jaswant Singh Commission also had categorically recommended that a high court bench must be set up in West UP! But that has certainly not shaken my unflinching faith in him and his personal integrity!

It was Justice Gogoi who had ruled in 2013 that no one could contest elections without a full and honest disclosure of their assets and also their educational and criminal antecedents. It was Justice Gogoi who in August 2018 led a Bench that instructed Centre to put in place special courts for the speedy trial of criminal cases involving politicians! It was Justice Gogoi who wanted that reservations for Scheduled Castes should be state specific and kept Jats out of the ambit of OBCs in central services as he felt that they are well off which certainly cannot be questioned!

Even if some inquiry panel finds him guilty, even if a retired Supreme Court Judge finds him guilty, even if all the Supreme Court Judges speak against him, even if the Lokpal speaks against him, even if the entire nation speaks against him, even if the whole world speaks against him still I will always trust him fully because it is in this CJI that I felt for first time an urge to change the system and to wipe out the rot prevalent in the system! I have every right as a citizen of India to have my own view and no one can force his/her views on me! I am sure that truth will certainly prevail sooner or later! CJI’s reputation has certainly suffered immensely but I rate character as far more important than reputation! This is because I very strongly believe that, “When you lose your reputation, you fall in the eyes of others but when you lose your character you fall in your own eyes”!

I am hundred percent certain that CJI Ranjan Gogoi’s character shall always remain intact and no power can ever dent it even slightly and at the risk of repetition let me say this again that not even God nor my parents nor anyone else can shake my unflinching faith in this CJI who right from day one started taking concrete steps like suo motu to fill up judicial vacancies and this cannot be ever lost sight of! The reward he is getting is he has become first CJI on whom so serious allegations have been levelled! Who will benefit if he is removed from office? Those who didn’t like his dead honesty and his firm determination not to give anyone any special treatment at any cost!

Let me make it very clear: He (CJI Ranjan Gogoi) commands respect from me not just because he became CJI but because his life speaks for itself and how he rejected power by rejecting the prestigious Civil Services and simultaneously money also by accepting Judgeship instead of continuing with his roaring practice just like other senior lawyers where he could have made huge amount of money without any difficulty! The money which he has made as a Judge is nothing! Even new law graduates working under senior lawyers in higher courts earn more money than CJI!

A Judge values his reputation more than anything else! But I value character more than reputation or anything else and with his character being uncompromising there is no reason for him to worry on any score! This is what makes me also relaxed when I think about him!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in above column are of author. Legal Desire is platform to provide space for legal fraternity to voice opinion. Anyone can submit write-ups via legaldesire.com/submit

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postolo · 6 years

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Oath Ceremony | Chairperson, Lokpal administers oath of office to the Members, Lokpal

The Chairperson, Lokpal, Sh. Justice P. C. Ghose administered the oath of office to the following Members of Lokpal at a function organised today:

1. Sh. Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale

2. Sh. Justice Pradeep Kumar Mohanty

3. Smt. Justice Abhilasha Kumari

4. Sh. Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi

5. Sh. Dinesh Kumar Jain

6. Smt. Archana Ramasundaram

7. Sh. Mahender Singh

8. Dr. Indrajeet Prasad Gautam

[Source: PIB]

Dated: 27-03-2019

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

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consumerinfoline · 6 years

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Ex-top court judge Justice PC Ghose appointed India's first Lokpal

Ex-top court judge Justice PC Ghose appointed India’s first Lokpal

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose was Tuesday appointed as the country’s first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, according to an official order.

Former Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) chief Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, Mahender Singh and Indrajeet Prasad Gautam have been appointed as non-judicial members of…

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visionmpbpl-blog · 6 years

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New Post has been published on http://www.visionmp.com/justice-gogoi-is-nations-46th-chief-justice-succeeding-chief-justice-dipak-misra/

Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn in as Chief Justice of India

New Delhi: Justice Ranjan Gogoi was on Wednesday sworn in as the Chief Justice of India, becoming the first chief of the apex court from the northeast.

He was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind at a function in the Rashtrapati Bhawan, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh, H.D. Deve Gowda, along with Leader of Congress Party in the Lok Sabha Malikarjun Kharge were also present.

Justice Gogoi is nation’s 46th Chief Justice succeeding Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who demitted office on October 2. He will be in office for 13 months and 15 days till November 17, 2019, when he will turn 65.

Significantly, Justice Gogoi is one of the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, who had risen in revolt against Justice Misra in January when they held a press conference criticising him on constitution of benches.

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, former AG Mukul Rohatgi, eminent jurist Fali Nariman, Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh were also present on the occasion.

Justice Gogoi was enrolled at the Bar in 1978 and practised at the Gauhati High Court of which he was made a Permanent Judge on February 28, 2001.

He was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 9, 2010 and became its Chief Justice on February 12, 2011. He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on April 23, 2012.

With just a little over a year at the helm, Justice Gogoi’s hands are full with pressing matters like Ayodhya, appointment of Lokpal, setting up of more fast track courts to try lawmakers facing criminal cases involving heinous crimes and other issues.

Justice Gogoi has set the task of addressing the issue of the huge backlog of cases that is plaguing the justice delivery system which he had said was threatening its credibility including its relevance.

With over 2.6 crore cases pending and with every fourth position in subordinate judiciary and nearly half of the High Court posts vacant – the task set by the Chief Justice is a mammoth one.

He had earlier said that he has the plan to address the issue which would unfold in due course.

Speaking at a seminar last week, Chief Justice Gogoi said: “Pendency is bringing a lot of disrepute. In fact, if I may say so, it has the potential of making the system irrelevant” and “I have a plan and will unfold it.”

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sarkarimirror · 6 years

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Mrs.Ranjana P Desai Former Supreme Court Judge, named as Chairperson of the Search Committee to recommend names the post of Chairperson and members of Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman

Mrs.Ranjana P Desai Former Supreme Court Judge named as Chairperson of the Search Committee to recommend names the post of Chairperson and members of Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman. with seven others as members are:- 1-Arundhati Bhattacharya (former SBI chief), 2-A Surya Prakash (Chairperson-Prasar Bharati), 3-Dr A S Kiran Kumar (ISRO head), 4-Justice Sakha Ram Singh Yadav (Retd Judge of Allahabad HC), 5-Ranjit Kumar (former Solicitor General), 6-Dr Lalit K Panwar (Retd IAS-1979-Rajasthan. 7-Shabbir-Hussain S Khandwawala (Retd IPS-1973-Gujarat Read the full article

#Mrs.RanjanaPDesaiFormerSupremeCourtJudge #namedasChairpersonoftheSearchCommitteetorecommendnamesthepostofChairpersonandmembersofLokpal #theanti-corruptionombudsman

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anika95sharma · 6 years

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Animals have legal rights, duties of living person, rules Uttarakhand HC

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday declared the "entire animal kingdom including avian and aquatic" as legal entities, with a distinct persona and corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person.

The Bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Lokpal Singh observed that the Corporations, Hindu idols, holy scriptures, rivers are legal entities.

The High Court further stated that in order to protect and promote greater welfare of animals, they are required to be conferred with the status of legal entity/ legal person.

As per this status, the animals should be healthy, comfortable, well- nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour without pain, fear and distress. They are entitled to justice.

#Uttarakhand high court #wildlife #uttarakhand govt trivendra singh rawat #flora and fauna

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marymosley · 5 years

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Column: Even God Cannot Shake My Faith In CJI Ranjan Gogoi

Why she has not produced any clinching evidence to prove her point? Why did she keep quiet for a long period? Why didn’t she immediately speak up? This itself speaks for what is the real story!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in above column are of author. Legal Desire is platform to provide space for legal fraternity to voice opinion. Anyone can submit write-ups via legaldesire.com/submit

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khabarsamay · 7 years

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Appointment of Lokpal

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 came into force w.e.f. 16.01.2014. The Government initiated the process for appointment by convening the Selection Committee meeting on 03.02.2014. The Selection Committee under section 4(1) of the Act, also constituted an eight Member Search Committee on 21.02.2014 in terms of section 4(3) of the Act. Two members of the Search Committee declined the offer of appointment. Looking into such difficulties experienced and to remove certain difficulties in the operationalisation of the Act including issues relating to appointment of Chairperson and Members of Lokpal, etc. in the absence of a Leader of Opposition recognized as such in the Lok Sabha, the Government introduced the Lokpal and Lokayuktas and other related law (Amendment) Bill, 2014 in Lok Sabha on 18.12.2014. The Bill was referred to the Department –related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice for examination and report. The said Committee has submitted its report in the Parliament on 07.12.2015. The recommendations of the said Committee were presented before an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) comprising seven Union Ministers. The recommendations of the IMC are under consideration of the Government. This was stated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri Sanjay Raut in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. Click to Post

#2013 #Appointment of Lokpal #Chairperson and Members of Lokpal #Development of North Eastern Region #Inter-Ministerial Committee #Law and Justice for examination and report #Leader #LOK SABHA #Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act #Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel #public grievances #Selection Committee under section #Union Minister of State #Union Ministers

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marymosley · 5 years

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Column: Even God Cannot Shake My Faith In CJI Ranjan Gogoi

Why she has not produced any clinching evidence to prove her point? Why did she keep quiet for a long period? Why didn’t she immediately speak up? This itself speaks for what is the real story!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in above column are of author. Legal Desire is platform to provide space for legal fraternity to voice opinion. Anyone can submit write-ups via legaldesire.com/submit

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marymosley · 5 years

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Column: Even God Cannot Shake My Faith In CJI Ranjan Gogoi

Why she has not produced any clinching evidence to prove her point? Why did she keep quiet for a long period? Why didn’t she immediately speak up? This itself speaks for what is the real story!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in above column are of author. Legal Desire is platform to provide space for legal fraternity to voice opinion. Anyone can submit write-ups via legaldesire.com/submit

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marymosley · 5 years

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Column: Even God Cannot Shake My Faith In CJI Ranjan Gogoi

Why she has not produced any clinching evidence to prove her point? Why did she keep quiet for a long period? Why didn’t she immediately speak up? This itself speaks for what is the real story!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in above column are of author. Legal Desire is platform to provide space for legal fraternity to voice opinion. Anyone can submit write-ups via legaldesire.com/submit

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marymosley · 5 years

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Column: Finally India Now Has Lokpal In Place As Anti-Graft Body

It has been a long and gruelling wait for Lokpal to finally come in place as an anti-graft body. On March 19, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh who is a former Supreme Court Judge and former Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court who retired in May 2017 and a current member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was appointed as India’s first Lokpal after President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Justice Pinaki as the country’s first Lokpal. Earlier we saw how President Kovind had nominated former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi as “eminent jurist” as member of the panel to select Lokpal against the vacancy arising following the death of senior advocate PP Rao. The Lokpal Selection Committee was headed by the Prime Minister and had as its members – Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House, Chief Justice of India and an eminent jurist nominated by President. A Judge of the top court nominated by the Chief Justice of India or any other member can also be selected to be a part of Lokpal Selection Committee.

To put things in perspective, all eight newly-appointed members of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal on March 27 took the oath of office. They were administered the oath by Lokpal chairperson Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose. Former Chief Justices of different High Courts – Justices Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale of Allahabad High Court, Pradip Kumar Mohanty of Jharkhand High Court, Abhilasha Kumari of Manipur High Court and Ajay Kumar Tripathi of Chhattisgarh High Court took oath as judicial members in the Lokpal. Also, first former woman chief of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam were sworn in as the Lokpal’s non-judicial members.

In retrospect, we all saw earlier how way back in 2011 the social reformer Anna Hazare had crusaded for getting this law enacted and many eminent individuals from different walks of life joined him though most of them had a political agenda to fulfil unlike Anna who had no political aspirations to realize! But the overall objective was good that there must be an effective anti-graft body in place in India. There can be no denying it!

Simply put, it was in January 2011 that the government formed a Group of Ministers to suggest measures to tackle corruption. Also, the Group of Ministers were entrusted with the onerous task of examination of the proposal of a Lokpal Bill due to relentless agitation by Anna Hazare. In July 2011, the Union Cabinet approved the Lokpal Bill and both Houses of the country passed it in December 2013.

Needless to say, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 came into being on January 1, 2014. Both UPA and NDA came on one platform to supports its passage as any opposition to it would send a wrong signal among the people which no party can afford but dilly-dallying on one ground or the other saw it being kept in abeyance for a long period of more than five years and it was only after the incumbent CJI Tarun Gogoi intervened and repeatedly sent signals to Centre that this institution of Lokpal could finally see the light of the day! Parliament has certainly not covered itself with glory by ensuring the excruciatingly slow progress of Lokpal institution since the last more than five years!

It may be recalled that it was way back in 1966 that the historic recommendation for a Lokpal at the Centre was first made by the Administrative Reforms Committee of 1966. It had recommended two independent authorities – one at the Centre and one at the State level to probe complaints against State functionaries including MPs. The idea of a Lokpal as Ombudsman first came up in Parliament in 1963 during a discussion on budget allocation for the Law Ministry and it was LM Singhvi who first coined it in 1962. It is now after 56 years that we finally now have a Lokpal in place! This is terrible!

According to Professional Referral Source (PRS) legislative research, the Lokpal Bill has been introduced eight times in the Lok Sabha in 1968, 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2001. It would be vital to mention here that each time the Lok Sabha was dissolved before the Bill’s passage could be ensured except in 1985 when it was withdrawn. Also, it must be borne in mind that several commissions including the First Administrative Reforms Commission of 1966 as mentioned above, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution of 2002 and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission of 2007 recommended the constitution of Lokpal. According to PRS Legislative Research which is an Indian non-profit organization, Sweden which was first country to have a Lokpal along with Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Spain, New Zealand, Burkina Faso and the United Kingdom are some of the countries which have the office of an ombudsman that is Lokpal.

To be sure, it must be mentioned here that the Lokpal has jurisdiction to inquire into allegations of corruption against anyone who is or has been Prime Minister, or a Minister in the Union Government, or a Member of Parliament, as well as officials of the Union Government under Groups A, B, C and D. Also, it must be mentioned that chairpersons, members, officers and directors of any board, corporation, society, trust or autonomous body either established by an Act of Parliament or wholly or partly funded by the Centre are also covered. Not stopping here, it also covers any society or trust or body that receives foreign contribution above Rs 10 lakh.

What’s more, the Lokpal Act, which stipulates appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the States to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants was passed in 2013. It is worth noting that according to the rules, not less than 50 percent of the members of the Lokpal panel shall be from amongst the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women. Also, upon selection, the chairperson and members shall hold office for a term of five years or till they attain 70 years of age.

It would be imperative to mention here that the Lokpal cannot inquire into any corruption charge against the Prime Minister if the allegations are pertaining to international relations, external and internal security, public order, atomic energy and space, unless a full Bench of the Lokpal, comprising of its chairperson and all members, considers the initiation of a probe and then at least two-thirds of the members approve it also. It is good that such a hearing should be held in camera but it is quite baffling to note that if the complaint is dismissed, the records shall not be published or made available to anyone. How can this be justified? Why can’t there be more transparency? Why this hush hush? Is there something to hide?

Interestingly enough, a preliminary inquiry should be completed within 30 days of receiving a complaint. The period can be extended to a further three months. It must be mentioned that a full inquiry has to be completed within six months which is extendable by another six months. It must be also mentioned that trial should be completed within a year of filing the case and the time period can be extended to a maximum of two years. It is commendable that a Lokpal does not need prior sanction from the government to investigate a complaint.

More crucially, a complaint under the Lokpal Act should be made in the prescribed form and must be pertaining to an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act against a public servant. Also, there is no restriction on who can make such a complaint. When a complaint is received, the Lokpal may after examining it order a preliminary inquiry by its Inquiry Wing, or refer it for investigation by any agency, including the CBI, if there is a prima facie case found.

Be it noted, before the Lokpal orders an investigation by the agency, the Lokpal is mandated to call for an explanation from the public servant to determine whether a prima facie case exists that can be pursued. The Act makes it clear that this provision will not interfere with any search and seizure that may be undertaken by the investigating agency. The Lokpal may refer the complaints pertaining to the Central Government servants to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). The CVC will then send a report of the Lokpal regarding officials falling under Groups A and B and proceed as per the CVC Act against those in Groups C and D.

Now let us turn to the procedure for preliminary inquiry. The Inquiry Wing or any other agency will have to ensure completing its preliminary inquiry and submitting a report to the Lokpal within 60 days. Before submitting its report, it has to seek comments from both the public servant and the competent authority. Also, there will be a competent authority for each category of public servant. As for instance, for the Prime Minister, it is the Lok Sabha and for other Ministers, it will be the Prime Minister and for department officials, it will be the Minister concerned.

Going forward, a Lokpal Bench comprising of not less than three members shall consider the preliminary inquiry report, and after giving an opportunity to the public servant shall decide whether it should proceed with the investigation. It can order either a full investigation, or initiate departmental proceedings or close the proceedings. It is also empowered to proceed against the complainant if the allegation is false. The preliminary inquiry should normally be completed within 90 days of the receipt of the complaint.

It must be disclosed here that the agency ordered to conduct the probe has to file its investigation report in the court of appropriate jurisdiction and a copy before the Lokpal. A Bench of at least three members will consider the report and after considering it may then grant sanction to the Prosecution Wing to proceed against the public servant based on the agency’s chargesheet. It may also ask the competent authority to take departmental action or direct the closure of the report.

Earlier, the authority vested with the power to appoint or dismiss a public servant was the one to grant sanction under Section 197 of the CrPC and Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. But now this power will be wielded by the Lokpal which is a judicial body and will have to seek the comments of the ‘Competent authority’ as envisaged in Section 24 as well as the public servant’s comments before granting such sanction.

All said and done, finally now India has in place a Lokpal as the anti-graft body to check and combat corruption which is certainly a great milestone and was due since a long time! But it would be premature to rush to any conclusions soon. We have to see now effectively it functions and what all roadblocks its faces in its functioning! One truly hopes that the Lokpal will be able to meet the high expectations of the people and function effectively for which it has been constituted! Some shortcomings must be revisited like Lokpal must have power to deal with not just public servants who come within the purview of the Union as we see right now but also broadened to include in its ambit the public servants in the states also! It must be ensured by Lokpal that all Lokayuktas are appointed in all States and there is no vacancy in any State on any ground whatsoever!

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