The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 was meant to be the apex anti-corruption institution but remains under-operationalised. Examine.

Introduction:

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 was passed after the India Against Corruption movement and the 2nd ARC Fourth Report (Ethics in Governance, 2007); the first Lokpal Chairman, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, was appointed only on 19 March 2019 after Common Cause v. Union of India (2017) directions — a delay that set the institutional tone for the apex anti-corruption body.

Statutory base: The Lokpal is a multi-member body of a Chairperson and up to eight members (50% judicial; 50% drawn from SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and women); its jurisdiction covers the Prime Minister (with safeguards under Section 14), MPs and Group A-D officers, with Section 19 inquiry directions and Section 20 preliminary inquiry powers anchoring the procedure.

Operational gaps: The Lokpal Annual Report 2023-24 records only 24 complaints disposed of substantively; States have been slow to constitute Lokayuktas; the Lokpal's permanent building, regulations, and independent prosecution wing under Section 11 remain incomplete a decade after the Act.

Parallel framework: The Central Vigilance Commission under the CVC Act 2003, the Central Bureau of Investigation under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946, and the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2018's Section 17A approval-before-investigation requirement have created overlapping turfs that dilute the Lokpal's apex character.

Way forward / Conclusion:

A statutory selection committee that includes the Leader of Opposition, an independent investigation wing under Section 11, and a public dashboard of complaints disposed will operationalise the 2013 Act's promise.