Lokpal: the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013

In one line

The Lokpal is a statutory body which inquires into allegations of corruption against public servants of the Union, including the Prime Minister, and can order investigation, prosecution and the attachment of assets.

In the words a student can write in an exam: the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 establishes the Lokpal for the Union, consisting of a Chairperson and not more than eight Members of whom not less than half are Judicial Members, appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee. It has jurisdiction over allegations of corruption, under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, against a person who is or has been the Prime Minister, a Union Minister, a member of either House of Parliament, or an officer or employee of the Union or of a body established by an Act of Parliament or financed or controlled by the Central Government. It has an Inquiry Wing and a Prosecution Wing, the powers of a civil court, powers of search and seizure, of provisional attachment and confiscation of assets, and power to grant sanction for prosecution, and section 63 requires every State to establish a Lokayukta.

The scheme of the Act

Sixty-three sections. Grouping them is the way to hold them.

Establishment and composition, sections 1 to 13

• Section 3: establishment of the Lokpal, consisting of a Chairperson and not more than eight Members, of whom not less than fifty per cent shall be Judicial Members, and not less than fifty per cent shall be from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women.
• Section 4: appointment of the Chairperson and Members by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Speaker of the House of the People, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People, the Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him, and one eminent jurist nominated by the President on the recommendation of the first four.
• Sections 5 to 9: filling of vacancies, term of office, salary and conditions, restriction on employment after ceasing to hold office, and a Member acting as Chairperson.
• Sections 10 to 13: the Secretary and staff, the Inquiry Wing under section 11 for conducting preliminary inquiry, the Prosecution Wing under section 12 for prosecuting public servants, and the charging of the Lokpal's expenses on the Consolidated Fund of India under section 13, which is a guarantee of financial independence.

Jurisdiction, sections 14 to 19

Section 14 is the central provision and should be known in detail. The Lokpal shall inquire, or cause an inquiry to be conducted, into any matter involved in, arising from or connected with any allegation of corruption made in a complaint in respect of: