Sections 8A, 8B and 11A: What the Lokpal Act Put Into This Act

In one line

When the Lokpal sends a complaint down to the Commission, the Commission does the preliminary inquiry; and sections 8A, 8B and 11A tell it what to do afterwards, how long it has, and who does the work.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 inserted sections 8A, 8B and 11A into the Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003 with effect from 16 January 2014, so that where the Lokpal refers a complaint under the first proviso to section 20(1) of that Act, the Commission conducts the preliminary inquiry, reports to the Lokpal in the case of Group A and Group B public servants, and in the case of Group C and Group D public servants proceeds itself under section 8A, which requires it to hear the public servant and then either cause an investigation, or have disciplinary proceedings initiated, or close the proceedings and proceed against the complainant under section 46 of the Lokpal Act; section 8B governs the investigation so ordered and its report; and section 11A creates a Director of Inquiry not below the rank of Joint Secretary for the inquiries the Lokpal refers.

Where these sections come from, and why they exist

Chapter 630 finished at section 8. The Act as passed in 2003 stopped there and went straight to section 9. The three lettered sections were inserted by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013, section 58 read with the Schedule, with effect from 16 January 2014.

The reason is a design decision Parliament took in 2013 and rarely gets credit for. A single Lokpal for the whole Union could not possibly conduct preliminary inquiries against every public servant of every grade. So section 20(1) of the Lokpal Act made the Commission its inquiry arm for the services, and this Act had to be amended to receive the work.

The first proviso to section 20(1) of the Lokpal Act, in its own words: the Lokpal, if it has decided to proceed with the preliminary inquiry, shall, by a general or special order, refer the complaints or a category of complaints or a complaint received by it in respect of public servants belonging to Group A or Group B or Group C or Group D to the Central Vigilance Commission constituted under section 3(1) of the 2003 Act.

The second proviso splits the return path, and this is the sentence that decides everything else:

• For Group A and Group B, the Commission, after making the preliminary inquiry, shall submit its report to the Lokpal in accordance with sections 20(2) and 20(4).
• For Group C and Group D, the Commission shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of the Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003.