DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

2019-2020

PROJECT

Civil Society and Public Grievance Law

Topic: INSTITUTION OF LOKPAL AND LOKAYUKTAS

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

SANKALP PATEL DR. R.K YADAV

160101131 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (LAW)

B.A. LLB (HONS.), SEMESTER VIII Dr. RMLNLU, LUCKNOW

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INDEX
1. Acknowledgement.....................................................................................................02
2. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 03
3. The origin of Lokpal and Lokayukta in India ........................................................ 04
4. Role and Importance of Ombudsman .......................................................................05
5. Appointment of Ombudsman ................................................................................... 06
6. Selection Procedure for the members of Lokpal......................................................07
7. Working of Ombudsman ...........................................................................................08
8. The institution of Ombudsman in the Indian scenario............................................ 09
9. Limitation .................................................................................................................. 10
10. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................11
11. Reference ....................................................................................................................12

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this

project. This project is the result of extensive literature study, hard work and labour put in to it to

make it worth reading. I extend my heartily thank to Dr. R.K YADAV who inspired me to do

this project. I am deeply indebted to him.

I further extend my thanks to library staff of DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL

LAW UNIVERSITY who helped me in getting all the materials necessary for the project.

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INTRODUCTION

An ombudsman, ombudsperson, ombud, or public advocate is an official who is charged with

representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of
maladministration or a violation of rights. The ombudsman is usually appointed by the
government or by parliament, but with a significant degree of independence. In some countries
an inspector general, citizen advocate or other official may have duties similar to those of a
national ombudsman, and may also be appointed by a legislature. Below the national level an
ombudsman may be appointed by a state, local or municipal government. Unofficial ombudsmen
may be appointed by, or even work for, a corporation such as a utility supplier, newspaper,
NGO, or professional regulatory body. The typical duties of an ombudsman are to investigate
complaints and attempt to resolve them, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or
mediation. Ombudsmen sometimes also aim to identify systematic issues leading to poor service
or breaches of people's rights. At the national level, most ombudsmen have a wide mandate to
deal with the entire public sector, and sometimes also elements of the private sector (for
example, contracted service providers). In some cases, there is a more restricted mandate, for
example with particular sectors of society. More recent developments have included the creation
of specialized Children's Ombudsman and Information Commissioner Agencies. In some
jurisdictions an ombudsman charged with handling concerns about national government is more
formally referred to as the "Parliamentary Commissioner" (e.g. the United Kingdom
Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, and the Western Australian state Ombudsman).
In many countries where the ombudsman's responsibility includes protecting human rights, the
ombudsman is recognized as the national human rights institution. The post of ombudsman had
by the end of the 20th century been instituted by most governments and by some
intergovernmental organizations such as the European Union. The Insurance Ombudsman
scheme was created by the Government of India for individual policyholders to have their
complaints settled out of the courts system in a cost-effective, efficient and impartial way. There
are at present 17 Insurance Ombudsman in different locations and any person who has a
grievance against an insurer, may himself or through his legal heirs, nominee or assignee, make a
complaint in writing to the Insurance ombudsman within whose territorial jurisdiction the branch

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or office of the insurer complained against or the residential address or place of residence of the
complainant is located.

THE ORIGIN OF LOKPAL AND LOKAYUKTA IN INDIA

The issue concerning the ombudsman was for the first time raised in the Parliament in the year
1963. The idea of ombudsman came to India in the year 1959. Mr C.D. Deshmukh was the
Chairman of the University Grants Commission and he made possible the establishment of a
tribunal which would be completely impartial and would look into the matters and make proper
reports on the complaints filed by the public in general. From this incident there have been
continuous demands for the establishment of such Role a mechanism like an ombudsman in all
the strata of the Indian society.[iii] A crucial change with reference to the Lokpal Bill came in
the year 2011 and it was in this year that the Lokpal Bill was passed and it eventually led to the
establishment of the institution of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta at State level. Another
important feature of this Bill is that the form of the current Bill has been arrived at after it went
through numerous recurring rounds of consultations and discussions with all the interested
parties which also included the society at large. And it was only after such numerous
deliberations and proper consultations that this Act eventually came into force on the 1st January
2014.

ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF OMBUDSMAN

Following points reveal role and importance of Federal Ombudsman in providing remedies to
citizens against administrative actions;

(i) Root causes of corrupt Practices and Injustice For ascertaining root causes of corrupt
practices and injustice, Wafaqi Mohtasib makes arrangements for studies or research. He also
recommends appropriate steps for their eradication.

(ii) Institutionalization of a system for enforcing administrative accountability Wafaqi

Mohtasib is to institutionalize a system for enforcing administrative accountability. In this way,
administrative actions are made accountable.

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(iii) Investigation and Rectification of Maladministration Ombudsman is to investigate and
rectify maladministration. In this way, maladministration is checked and citizens are provided
remedies against maladministration.

(iv) Awarding of Compensation Ombudsman possesses power to award compensation to those

citizens, who have suffered loss or damages as a result of maladministration.

(v) Briding Gab between Administrators and Citizens Ombudsman bridges gab between
administrators and citizens. This role improves friendly relations and atmosphere between them
and paves a way for better administration of public affairs by administrators and for better
citizen’s understanding of administration of public affairs.

(vi) Improvement of Administrative process and procedures Ombudsman is to improve

administrative process and procedures so as to check misuse of administrative powers and to
save citizens from misuse of administrative powers.

(vii) Checking of Misuse of Discretionary Powers Ombudsman plays an important role in

checking misuse of discretionary powers. And checking of discretionary powers saves people
from negative effects of misuse of discretionary powers.

APPOINTMENT OF OBUDSMAN

Section 4(1) of the Act reads as, “the Chairperson and members of Lokpal shall be appointed by
the President and this appointment shall be compulsorily made in accordance with the
recommendations which are based on the report given by the Selection Committee.” This
Selection Committee which will be giving its recommendation will be comprised of the Prime
Minister, the Speaker of the House of People, Leader of the Opposition in the House of People,
the Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice and
one eminent Jurist. This specific provision has been heavily criticised. A Chief Justice, because
of his credentials should never be subordinate to the Prime Minister and with respect to the
appointment of the Jurist it is very crucial that it be done with extreme caution as it will
definitely be a very important factor to prevent the Lokpal frombecoming a mere toothless law;
rather, it would become a rubber stamp of the party which is in power at that point of time.
Section 4 (2) clearly states, that mere vacancy in the Selection Committee will not annul the
appointment of a Chairperson or a member of Lokpal. It becomes very difficult to ascertain the

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real intent behind this provision. It is almost impossible to have a situation when the post of the
Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha or the Chief
Justice of India are vacant. Section 5 makes it very clear that the selection process must
compulsorily start before a minimum of three months from expiry of the term of the Chairperson
or a Member of the Lokpal in order to make sure that there is no vacancy in the Selection
Committee. It is the vacancy of the eminent jurist which has a proper legalbacking. The
appointment or vacancy of the eminent jurist is actually an important tool which the government
possesses and it is with the help of this tool that the government is able to take control of the
majority of the members who are in the executive, specifically in matters of a dissenting judicial
member, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Prime Minister being at one end. Such sections can be
used to mould the circumstances accordingly and hence it is very ambiguous and should have
been avoided.

SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR THE MEMBERS OF LOKPAL

The Lokpal consists of one Chairperson and eight members and these members are selected
through the screening of two committees and these committees are, Selection Committee and
Search Committee. The Selection Committee has the core function of selection and final say in
the matter and it comprises of five prestigious office-bearers as members, viz, the Prime
Minister, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief
Justice of India (CJI) or a judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the CJI, and one eminent
jurist, as recommended by the other four members of the committee. Before selection by the
committee above, another group of seven members is constituted, called the Search Committee.
An essential function of this committee is to shortlist a panel of eligible candidates for the post of
Chairperson and members of the Lokpal, which is then put before the Selection Committee. The
Selection Committee then decides upon this proposed panel by the Search Committee. A peculiar
feature of the Search Committee and that of the Lokpal is that, half of the total members of each
should be persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward
Classes, minorities and women.

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WORKING OF OMBUDSMAN

You have first approached your insurance company with the complaint and

 They have rejected it

 Not resolved it to your satisfaction or
 Not responded to it at all for 30 days
 Your complaint pertains to any policy you have taken in your capacity as an individual
and
 The value of the claim including expenses claimed is not above Rs 30 lakhs.

Your complaint to the Ombudsman can be about:

a) Delay in settlement of claims, beyond the time specified in the regulations, framed under the
IRDAI Act, 1999.

b) Any partial or total repudiation of claims by the Life insurer, General insurer or the Health
insurer.

c) Any dispute about premium paid or payable in terms of insurance policy

d) Misrepresentation of policy terms and conditions at any time in the policy document or
policy contract.

e) Legal construction of insurance policies in so far as the dispute relates to claim.

f) Policy servicing related grievances against insurers and their agents and intermediaries.

g) Issuance of life insurance policy, general insurance policy including health insurance policy
which is not in conformity with the proposal form submitted by the proposer.

h) Non issuance of insurance policy after receipt of premium in life insurance and general
insurance including health insurance and

i) Any other matter resulting from the violation of provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938 or the
regulations, circulars, guidelines or instructions issued by the IRDAI from time to time or the
terms and conditions of the policy contract, in so far as they relate to issues mentioned at
clauses (a) to(f)

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THE INSTITUTION OF OMBUDSMAN IN THE INDIAN SCENARIO

In the year 1966 a commission was set up named the Administrative Reforms Commission and
this commission recommended that an institution based on the lines of an ombudsman is
necessary in India and in pursuance of this a bill was forwarded in the Lok Sabha in the year
1968 which was eventually passed in the year 1969. Since the governments have yielded so
much power that can lead to its abuse, it eventually leads to the advent of the ombudsman in
India. Once India attained freedom from the shackles of the British Empire, India had a
humungous task to deal with, coping with problems such as the Second World War, economic
crises and famines to name a few. And in order to tackle all these problems, India required a
competent administrative set up and huge amount of power was given to the administrators and
therefore a proper mechanism was required to protect the individuals from the faults of the
administration. As was the case in Denmark, India also had to suffer a lot of administrative
crises after the Second World War and there were numerous cases of maladministration and
corruption surfacing during this period and such problems had to be tackled immediately.

LIMITATIONS

Power and Jurisdiction of the Lokayuktas in States

The controversial backlog of the Act involving State legislatures was the one that led to the
rejection of a previous Bill which in turn brought a revised Bill providing an option of Article
252 to be invoked and option was given to the States to have their own Lokpal Act. The present
Act mandates the setting up of Lokayuktas in each state within one year along with the
provision that State legislatures shall have the authority to determine the powers and
jurisdiction of the Lokayukta. This makes the situation crystal clear and the gives rise to the
apprehension of inefficient Lokayuktas with restricted jurisdiction in the fetters of the state
government’s stewards adversely affecting the poor and marginalized through raging
corruption.

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Laches or restrictions

Another limitation of the Act is envisaged in the following words that the Lokpal “shall not
inquire or investigate into any complaint, if the complaint is made after the expiry of a period of
seven years from the date on which the offence mentioned in such complaint is alleged to have
been committed.” Though unreasonable delay by the plaintiff in instituting a suit or filing a
complaint is a ground for dismissal but the gist of the matter is that cases concerned with lokpal
are usually high-profile scams of the government bringing under its garb the highest office
bearers which are discovered with proper evidence only after one regime ends (five years or
even seven years) and a proposal is made that in the presence of concrete and corroborative
evidence, complaints should be entertained and worked upon by the Lokpal to ensure justice
and so that the purpose of the Act is served.

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CONCLUSION

In order to make sure that a nation should prosper it becomes very important that the
administrative wing of the nation is functioning properly and efficiently and at the same time
one key point to be noted is that there is no corruption in the administrative department of the
nation. Corruption is actually the deep rooted cause which is the biggest obstacle in the
development of a nation. In order to tackle this problem of corruption the institution of
ombudsman plays the most important role and in the Indian context this role is played by the
Lokpal. The other point to be noted is that when the concept of ombudsman emerged at that
point of time it was made to tackle the problem of maladministration and inefficiency with
corruption just being a part of it but as time passed the problem of corruption grew to such an
extent that now the institution of ombudsman is considered to be made only for the problem of
corruption. This problem of corruption cannot be tackled only through legislation; a
concentrated and unified effort is required from the society as a whole. For corruption to spread
its root so deep into the system of any nation the citizens of the nation are equally to be blamed
because it is not only the administrative officials who are at the wrong side.

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REFERENCE
1. http://www.policyholder.gov.in/Ombudsman.aspx

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Work_Ombudsman

3. https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/institution-ombudsman-legislative-judicial-outlook

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