The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013

This article is about The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013. For Lokpal, an article containing general purpose definition, see Lokpal. For Lokayukta, an article containing general purpose definition, see Lokayukta. For the anti-corruption bill drafted by the civil society group, India Against Corruption, see Jan Lokpal Bill.

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013
Parliament of India
  • An Act to provide for the establishment of a body of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for States to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.[1]
Citation01 of 2014
Territorial extentIndia
Passed byRajya Sabha
Passed17 December 2013
Passed byLok Sabha
Passed18 December 2013
Assented to1 January 2014
Signed byPranab Mukherjee
Commenced16 January 2014
Status: In force
Legislative history
Title: The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 [2]
History: Introduced in Lok Sabha on 4 August 2011.[3]
Referred to The Parliament's Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law and Justice on 8 August 2011.[4]

Re-introduced in Lok Sabha on 22 December 2011.[5]

Passed by Lok Sabha on 27 December 2011.[6]

Introduced in Rajya Sabha on 29 December 2011.[7]

Re-introduced in Rajya Sabha on 21 May 2012.[8]

Referred to The Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha on 21 May 2012.[9]

The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 17 December 2013 and in the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2013.[10]

The bill was assented by the President on 1 January 2014.[2]

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, commonly known as The Lokpal Act, is an anti-corruption Act of Indian Parliament in India which "seeks to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain important public functionaries including the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Group A officials of the Central Government and for matters connecting them".[11]

The Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 22 December 2011 and was passed by the House on 27 December as The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011. It was subsequently tabled in the Rajya Sabha on 29 December. After a marathon debate that stretched until midnight of the following day, the vote failed to take place for lack of time.[12] On 21 May 2012, it was referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha for consideration. It was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 17 December 2013 after making certain amendments to the earlier Bill and in the Lok Sabha the next day.[10] It received assent from President Pranab Mukherjee on 1 January 2014 and came into force from 16 January.[13][14]

The Bill was introduced in the parliament following massive public protests led by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and his associates.[15] The Bill is one of the most widely discussed and debated Bills in India, both by the media and the People of India at large, in recent times.[16] The protests were named among the "Top 10 News Stories of 2011" by the magazine Time.[17][18] The bill received worldwide media coverage.[19][20][21]

In 2011, India ranked 95th in the Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International. A recent survey estimated that corruption in India had cost billions of dollars and threatened to derail growth.[22][23][24] India lost a staggering $462 billion in illicit financial flows due to tax evasion, crime and corruption post-Independence, according to a report released by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity.[25]

Retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose was appointed as the first Lokpal of India by a committee consisting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Eminent Jurist Mukul Rohatgi on 17 March 2019.[26]

  1. ^ "THE LOKPAL AND LOKAYUKTAS ACT, 2013" (PDF). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (January 2014). "The Gazette of India" (PDF). Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department). Retrieved 19 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ NDTV (2011). "The Lok Pal Bill, 2011". NDTV. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  4. ^ PTI (8 August 2011). "Lokpal Bill goes to Standing Committee". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  5. ^ Agencies (22 December 2011). "Lokpal Bill tabled in Parliament; Team Anna's Arvind Kejriwal rejects it". Economic Times. Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  6. ^ K.R. Srivats. "Business Line : Industry & Economy / Government & Policy : Lok Sabha passes Lokpal Bill but no Constitutional status". Thehindubusinessline.com. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  7. ^ Kumar, Rajesh (30 December 2011). "Rajya Sabha fails to vote on Lokpal bill". In.reuters.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  8. ^ Business Standard (22 May 2012). "'Productive' Budget session sees several highs and lows". Business Standard. Retrieved 29 May 2012. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ "UPA pushes lokpal bill into deep freezer". Hindustan Times. 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  10. ^ a b Economic Times (18 December 2013). "Lokpal Bill passed in Lok Sabha". Economic Times. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Lokpal Bill tabled in Rajya Sabha, din blocks debate". Business Standard India. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  12. ^ K.V. Prasad (30 December 2011). "News / National : No vote on Lokpal, Rajya Sabha adjourns abruptly". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  13. ^ "Lokpal Bill gets President's nod - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  14. ^ "Notification" (PDF). Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  15. ^ "Lokpal Bill tabled in RS, sent to select committee – Politics – Politics News – ibnlive". Ibnlive.in.com. 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  16. ^ Press Trust of India (9 December 2011). "Anna, Jan Lokpal Bill top FB status updates in 2011". CNNIBN. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  17. ^ "The Top 10 Everything of 2011: Number 10 – Anna Hazare's Hunger Fasts Rock India". Time. 7 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  18. ^ "Anna Hazare's movement among top 10 news stories of 2011: Time magazine". The Economic Times. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  19. ^ Yardley, Jim; Bajaj, Vikas (27 December 2011). "Lower House of Indian Parliament Passes Anticorruption Measure". New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  20. ^ Hari Bapuji & Suhaib Riaz (21 October 2011). "Occupy Wall Street: What Businesses Need to Know". Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review (blog). Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  21. ^ NDTV (December 2011). "Foreign media on Lokpal Bill". NDTV. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  22. ^ "India yoga guru Baba Ramdev to launch protest". BBC News. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  23. ^ "Survey on Bribery and Corruption" (PDF). KPMG. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  24. ^ "India fraud Survey Report, 2010" (PDF). KPMG. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  25. ^ "Graft and bribe: India lost $462 billion post-independence". The Economic Times. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  26. ^ Langa, Mahesh (17 March 2019). "Pinaki Chandra Ghose set to be India's first Lokpal". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 March 2019.