History of Lok pal Bill

Lokpal Bill -History

The misdeeds committed during the Emergency remind us of the necessity of including the PM within the purview of the Lokpal. The basic idea of the Lok Pal is borrowed from the office of ombudsman, which has played an effective role in checking corruption and wrong-doing in Scandinavian and other nations.3 In early 1960s, mounting corruption in public administration set the winds blowing in favour of an Ombudsman in India too. The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in 1966 recommended the constitution
of a two-tier machinery - of a Lokpal at the Centre, and Lokayukt(a)s in the states.4 The ARC
while recommending the constitution of Lokpal was convinced that such an institution was
justified not only for removing the sense of injustice from the minds of adversely affected
citizens but also necessary to instill public confidence in the efficiency of administrative
machinery. Following this, the Lokpal Bill was for the first time presented during the fourth Lok
Sabha in 1968, and was passed there in 1969.
However, while it was pending in the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved, resulting the first death of the bill. The bill was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and most recently in 2008.
Each time, after the bill was introduced to the house, it was referred to some committee for
improvements - a joint committee of parliament, or a departmental standing committee of the
Home Ministry - and before the government could take a final stand on the issue the house was
dissolved.
There are as many as 17 states where the institution of Lokayukta has been constituted,
beginning with Orissa in 1971. However the power, function and jurisdiction of Lokayuktas are
not uniform in the country.
In some states it has been applicable to all the elected representatives including the CM. In some
other states legislators have been deliberately kept out of his purview. Often, lacunae have been
left in legislation creating the office, apparently to keep the elected representatives outside
meaningful jurisdiction of the Lokayukta, even when the laws appear to include them.
Lokayuktas have not been provided with their independent investigative machinery making them
dependent on the government agencies, which leaves enough scope for the politicians and the
bureaucrats to tinker with the processes of investigation.