The Jan Lokpal Bill

7/17/2019 The Jan Lokpal Bill

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The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent ciil

society actiists seekin! the appointment of a Jan Lokpal" an independent body that would inesti!ate

corruption cases" complete the inesti!ation within a year and enisa!es trial in the case !ettin! oer in the

ne#t one year$

%rafted by Justice &antosh e!de (former &upreme Court Jud!e and former Lokayukta of arnataka)"

rashant Bhushan (&upreme Court Lawyer) and *rind e+riwal (,T actiist)" the draft Bill enisa!es a

system where a corrupt person found !uilty would !o to +ail within two years of the complaint bein! made

and his ill-!otten wealth bein! confiscated$ t also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and

bureaucrats without !oernment permission$

,etired & officer iran Bedi and other known people like &wami *!niesh" &ri &ri ,ai &hankar" *nna

azare and .allika &arabhai are also part of the moement" called ndia *!ainst Corruption$ ts website

describes the moement as /an e#pression of collectie an!er of people of ndia a!ainst corruption$ 0e hae

all come to!ether to force1re2uest1persuade1pressurize the 3oernment to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill$ 0e feel

that if this Bill were enacted it would create an effectie deterrence a!ainst corruption$/

*nna azare" anti-corruption crusader" went on a fast-unto-death in *pril" demandin! that this Bill" drafted

by the ciil society" be adopted$ 4our days into his fast" the !oernment a!reed to set up a +oint committeewith an e2ual number of members from the !oernment and ciil society side to draft the Lokpal Bill

to!ether$ The two sides met seeral times but could not a!ree on fundamental elements like includin! the

. under the puriew of the Lokpal$ 5entually" both sides drafted their own ersion of the Bill$

The !oernment has introduced its ersion in arliament in this session$ Team *nna is up in arms and calls

the !oernment ersion the /Joke al Bill$/ *nna azare declared that he would be!in another fast in %elhi

on *u!ust 67$ ours before he was to be!in his hun!er strike" the %elhi olice detained and later arrested

him$ There are widespread protests all oer the country a!ainst his arrest$

The website of the ndia *!ainst Corruption moement calls the Lokpal Bill of the !oernment an

/eyewash/ and has on it a criti2ue of that !oernment Bill$

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

6$ *n institution called L8*L at the centre and L8*9:T* in each state will be set up

;$ Like &upreme Court and 5lection Commission" they will be completely independent of the !oernments$

<o minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their inesti!ations$

=$ Cases a!ainst corrupt people will not lin!er on for years anymore> nesti!ations in any case will hae to

be completed in one year$ Trial should be completed in ne#t one year so that the corrupt politician" officer or

+ud!e is sent to +ail within two years$

?$ The loss that a corrupt person caused to the !oernment will be recoered at the time of coniction$

@$ ow will it help a common citizen> f any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any

!oernment office" Lokpal will impose financial penalty on !uilty officers" which will be !ien as

compensation to the complainant$

7$ &o" you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or oter card is not bein! made or if police

is not re!isterin! your case or any other work is not bein! done in prescribed time$ Lokpal will hae to !et it

done in a month's time$ 9ou could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration bein! siphoned

off" poor 2uality roads been constructed or panchayat funds bein! siphoned off$ Lokpal will hae to

complete its inesti!ations in a year" trial will be oer in ne#t one year and the !uilty will !o to +ail within

two years$



A$ But won't the !oernment appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members That won't be possible

because its members will be selected by +ud!es" citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians"

throu!h a completely transparent and participatory process$

$ 0hat if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt The entire functionin! of Lokpal1 Lokayukta will be

completely transparent$ *ny complaint a!ainst any officer of Lokpal shall be inesti!ated and the officer

dismissed within two months$

D$ 0hat will happen to e#istin! anti-corruption a!encies CEC" departmental i!ilance and anti-corruption

branch of CB will be mer!ed into Lokpal$ Lokpal will hae complete powers and machinery to

independently inesti!ate and prosecute any officer" +ud!e or politician$

6F$ t will be the duty of the Lokpal to proide protection to those who are bein! ictimized for raisin! their

oice a!ainst corruption$



Jan Lokpal Bill will improve existing anti-corruption systems.

Existing System System ropose! "y civil society

#o politician or senior officer ever goes to $ail

!espite huge evi!ence because *nti CorruptionBranch (*CB) and CB directly come under the

!oernment$ Before startin! inesti!ation or initiatin!

prosecution in any case" they hae to take permission

from the same bosses" a!ainst whom the case has to

be inesti!ated$

Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at state leel will be

independent bodies$ *CB and CB will be mer!ed intothese bodies$ They will hae power to initiate

inesti!ations and prosecution a!ainst any officer or

politician without needin! anyoneGs permission$

nesti!ation should be completed within 6 year and

trial to !et oer in ne#t 6 year$ %ithin two years& the

corrupt shoul! go to $ail.

#o corrupt officer is !ismisse! from the $o"

because Central Ei!ilance Commission" which is

supposed to dismiss corrupt officers" is only an

adisory body$ 0heneer it adises !oernment to

dismiss any senior corrupt officer" its adice is neerimplemented$

Lokpal and Lokayukta will hae complete powers to

or!er !ismissal of a corrupt officer. CEC and all

departmental i!ilance will be mer!ed into Lokpal and

state i!ilance will be mer!ed into Lokayukta$

#o action is taken against corrupt $u!ges because

permission is re2uired from the Chief Justice of ndia

to een re!ister an 4, a!ainst corrupt +ud!es$

Lokpal H Lokayukta shall hae powers to investigate

an! prosecute any $u!ge without needin! anyoneGs

permission$

#owhere to go - eople e#pose corruption but no

action is taken on their complaints$

Lokpal H Lokayukta will hae to en'uire into an!

hear every complaint.

(here is so much corruption within )B* an!

vigilance !epartments$ Their functionin! is so secret

that it encoura!es corruption within these a!encies$

All investigations in Lokpal + Lokayukta shall "e

transparent. *fter completion of inesti!ation" all

case records shall be open to public$ Complaint a!ainst

any staff of Lokpal H Lokayukta shall be en2uired and punishment announced within two months$

%eak an! corrupt people are appointe! as hea!s

of anti-corruption a!encies$

oliticians will have a"solutely no say in selections

of Chairperson and members of Lokpal H Lokayukta$

&elections will take place throu!h a transparent and

public participatory process$

)iti,ens face harassment in !oernment offices$

&ometimes they are forced to pay bribes$ 8ne can

only complaint to senior officers$ <o action is taken

on complaints because senior officers also !et their

cut$

Lokpal H Lokayukta will !et pu"lic grievances

resolve! in time "oun! manner" impose a penalty of

,s ;@F per day of delay to be deducted from the salary

of !uilty officer and award that amount as

compensation to the a!!rieed citizen$#othing in law to recover ill gotten wealth. *

corrupt person can come out of +ail and en+oy that

money$

Loss caused to the !oernment due to corruption will

"e recovere! from all accused$

Small punishment for corruption- unishment for

corruption is minimum 7 months and ma#imum A

years$

Enhance! punishment - The punishment would be

minimum @ years and ma#imum of life imprisonment$

Documents

The Jan Lokpal Bill