Lok Pal bill at glance

Lok Pal bill is the replica of the office of, An Ombudsman, {is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests}appointed to inquire into complaints made by citizens against public officials.Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Spain, New Zealand, Burkina Faso and the United Kingdom are some of the countries which have the office of an Ombudsman.

Lok Pal is a Public forum where the citizen can send a complaint against a public official, which would then be inquired into and the citizen would be provided appropriate Action .An ombudsman is an official, usually appointed by the government or by parliament, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens.

Usually appointed by the organization, but sometimes elected by the constituency, the ombudsman may, for example, investigate constituent complaints relating to the organization and attempt to resolve them, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. Ombudsmen sometimes identify organizational roadblocks running counter to constituent interests.

Strong Lok Pal bill wants the office of the Prime Minister, Ministers and Members of Parliament, inclusion of judges, and powers of the Lok Pal. Most experts contend that all public officials should be accountable while some are in the opinion that the autonomy and privilege of Parliament require the Prime Minister, Ministers, and Members of Parliament to be accountable only to Parliament.

The office of the Lok Pal, must possess its composition, powers and functions, clearly spell with its executive power and not of advisory role and its jurisdiction well defined. The commissions, dealt with the Lok Pal include the First Administrative Reforms Commission of 1966, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution of 2002 and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission of 2007. The Lok Pal Bills that were introduced were referred to various Parliamentary committees (the last three Bills were referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs).Lok Pal include the First Administrative Reforms Commission of 1966, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution of 2002 and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission of 2007. The Lok Pal Bills that were introduced were referred to various Parliamentary committees (the last three Bills were referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs).

Another laws that deal with corruption of public officials in India Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Code of Criminal Procedure and the 1988 Act require the investigating agency (such as the CBI) to get prior sanction of the central or state government before it can initiate the prosecution process in a court.

There are eighteen state governments have enacted legislation to set up the office of Lokayukta and Uplokayukta (deputy Lokayukta).Those States enacted namely are: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Further Public officials,government employees, judges, armed forces, and Members of Parliament are to be prosecuted for corruption under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.