Current Affairs Notes – Lokpal: Appointment, Selection, Powers and more

Current Affairs and is an integral part of the general awareness section. Questions related to the appointment of Lokpal has been in news since quite a long time, it has become an important piece of knowledge which would be helpful for any exam, questions related to the appointment of Lokpal and Jan Lokpal Bill are expected in the General Awareness section of Bank and Government Exams like SBI PO and SBI Clerk, RBI Grade B, ESIC UDC, LIC AAO, NABARD, SSC Exams, Railway NTPC, Railway RRB JE, UPSC and more. Let us run you down through the important points needed to know for this topic in this FREE Current Affairs Notes blog;

Current Affairs Notes – Latest Important Facts on Lokpal

• On 17th March 2019, retired Supreme Court judge and current member of the National Human Rights Pinaki Chandra Ghose was appointed as the first Lokpal of India or anti-corruption watchdog by President Ram Nath Kovind.
• Justice Dilip Bhosale, Justice P K Mohany, Justice Abhilasha Kumari and Justice AK Tripathi have been appointed as the judicial members. President of India has appointed Dinesh Kumar Jain, Archana Ramasundaram, Mahender Singh, and IP Gautam as members.
• The Selection Committee recommended and Finalised the name of Justice Bose led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The selection was made weeks after the February-end deadline set by the Supreme Court.

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Current Affairs Notes – The Jan Lokpal Bill Movement

• A Lokpal is an anti-corruption authority or ombudsman who represents the public interest. The word ombudsman has been borrowed from Sweden.
• There were many repeated attempts and demands to pass the Lokpal Bill in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008, but it never got passed due to the lack of majority from the opposition party.  
• Introduction of the First Bill of Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was passed after four decades of hard work and was enacted in December 2013.
• The term “Lokpal” was coined by Dr. L.M Singhvi in 1963.
• Anna Hazare had started a hunger strike from January  30 to put pressure on the government to set up the Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas acts in states.
• On February 5, after the assurances from the government on the Lokpal and Lokayuktas issues Anna Hazare ended his Hunger Strike.
• Anna Hazare made the country believe in the power of the Supreme Court and the Public by highlighting the fact that Lokpal is being appointed 9 years after the movement.

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Current Affairs Notes – Lokpal Committee

• Justice Ghose was selected by a committee headed by the Prime Minister.
• The selection procedure will start with a search committee which will prepare a panel of candidates, a selection committee will recommend names from among the panel, and the president will appoint these members.
• According to the Lokayukta Act 2013, not less than 50% members of the Lokpal should be from among persons belonging SC’s, STs, OBCs, minorities or women.
• According to the Lokayukta 2013 Act, the Lokpal should consist of a chairperson and should have a total of 8 members out of which 4 of them should be judicial members.
• The Lokayukta for the State shall be established by every state itself, it not have to be established within one year from the commencement of the Act as per Section 63 Act of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act.

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Current Affairs Notes – Special powers of the Lokpal

• The Lokpal will have the power of superintendence and direction over any investigation agency including CBI for cases referred to them by the ombudsman.
• As per the Act, the Lokpal can summon or question any public servant if there exists a prima facie case against the person, even before an investigation agency (such as vigilance or CBI) has begun the probe. Any officer of the CBI investigating a case referred to it by the Lokpal, shall not be transferred without the approval of the Lokpal.
• An investigation must be completed within six months. However, the Lokpal or Lokayukta may allow extensions of six months at a time provided the reasons for the need of such extensions are given in writing.
• Special courts will be instituted to conduct trials on cases referred by Lokpal.
• The Lokpal can award fine up to Rs 2 Lakh for false frivolous or vexatious complaints.

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Current Affairs Notes – The Need to implement Lokpal in India

• Our past governments have enforced institutions like Central Vigilance Commission and Central Bureau of Investigation but despite a few exceptional historic cases these institutions have mostly failed to prevent the widespread corruption.
• Due to a rise in corruption cases in the country the implementation of Lokpal and Lokayukta took place.
• The creation of Lokpal and Lokayukta have come as a trump card to improve all-time low ranking in corruption that India has been accounted for at a global level.
• To maintain a proper check on the federal and democratic system of India the Lokpal will function as an independent body.

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Hence, it was the need of the hour to implement such an act because of which the grievances of the citizens demanded speedy means of delivering justice, we all know that justice delayed is justice denied.

That is all from our end at Oliveboard in this Current Affairs notes blog on Lokpal, we hope that the information that we have provided will help you get a clear picture of Lokpal and its updates. Keep visiting this space for exam updates, free study notes. To prepare with thousands of fellow aspirants visit Oliveboard’s discuss forum. All the Best for your preparation, Keep Learning with Oliveboard.