The term Ombudsman means watchdog of the administration or the protector of the little man. Discuss the above statement regarding the need and appointment of Lokpal or Lokayukta.

Question: The term Ombudsman means watchdog of the administration or the protector of the little man. Discuss the above statement regarding the need and appointment of Lokpal or Lokayukta. [BJS 2018]

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Answer

Ombudsman is a quasi-judicial officer who acts independently and non-patricianly to perform his duty to supervise the administration. He performs the duty of inquiry and investigation to deal with the specific complaints from the public against administrative injustice and maladministration.

Ombudsman is a quasi-judicial officer of Parliament whose primary function is to investigate the complaints or allegations against the public administration and expose the involved administrative or executive officials. The main aim of the institution of the Ombudsman is to safeguard the citizens of his country against misuse of the powers of the administration. The object is to control the administration and thus give protection to the citizens against injustice brought about by faulty administration. That is why the term Ombudsman means ‘watchdog of the administration or the protector of the little man’.

In 2011, the Lokpal Bill was passed in India and it eventually led to the establishment of the institution of Ombudsman (Lokpal) at the Centre and Lokayukta at the state level. Lokpal is the Indian Ombudsman and Lokayuktas is the State Ombudsman. Lokpal in India is a national anti-corruption ombudsman to look into complaints against public servants and officials which are defined under the Lokpal Act 2013. This quasi-judicial body was constituted with an aim to check the menace of corruption in India.

The composition of the Lokpal office comprises a Chairman and up to 8 members. The chairman of the Lokpal can be a current or retired judge of the Supreme Court or the chief justice of High Courts or an eminent person having special knowledge and expertise of not less than 25 years in the matters relating to:

• Anti Corruption Policy
• Public administration
• Vigilance
• Law and Management
• Finance including insurance and banking

Section 25 of the Lokpal Act 2013 deals with the powers of Lokpal. The provision states that once the Lokpal receives a complaint governing under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, it can initiate the investigation. If the complaint is found to be true in the investigation then he can ask the government to take disciplinary action against the concerned public servants or file a corruption case in a special court.

On the other hand, with no central legislation upon the same, some states have adopted the Ombudsman system (called Lokayukta) with the institution of Lokayukta being established in several States with enactment of respective statutes. The Lokpal Bill 2018 was passed under Article 252 of the Indian Constitution, which envisages provision pertaining to the power of Parliament to legislate for two or more States by consent and adoption of such legislation by any other State. In 2019, Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose was appointed as India’s first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman.

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