Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013: Key Provisions, Role, and Impact on Anti-Corruption in India

A section-wise UPSC reference to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013: composition, appointment, jurisdiction, complaint procedure, powers, safeguards and State Lokayuktas.

This page is the Act and legal-framework reference. For implementation gaps, competing arguments and reforms, continue to Lokpal and Lokayuktas: role, challenges and future.

Legal identity and constitutional position

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act received assent on 1 January 2014 and came into force on 16 January 2014. Its long title describes an institution for the Union and Lokayuktas for States to inquire into allegations of corruption against specified public functionaries.

The Act was not enacted under Article 252, and neither Lokpal nor Lokayukta is created directly by the Constitution. Section 63 instead tells each State to establish a Lokayukta by a law made by the State Legislature. This explains why State models differ in composition, jurisdiction and powers: the central Act imposes an establishment obligation but does not reproduce a uniform State Lokayukta code.

Composition and appointment

Section 3 provides for a Chairperson and up to eight Members.

• The Chairperson may be a former Chief Justice of India, a former Supreme Court judge, or an eminent person meeting the statutory expertise requirement.
• Up to eight Members may be appointed; 50% must be Judicial Members.
• At least 50% of the Members must be from among persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women.
• A Judicial Member must be or have been a Supreme Court judge or Chief Justice of a High Court.
• A non-Judicial Member requires impeccable integrity, outstanding ability and at least 25 years of specialised knowledge and expertise in the fields listed by the Act.
• The term is five years or until the age of 70, whichever is earlier.

The President appoints the Chairperson and Members on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of:

1. the Prime Minister as Chairperson;
2. the Speaker of the Lok Sabha;
3. the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha;
4. the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by the CJI; and
5. an eminent jurist nominated by the President on the recommendation of the first four members.

The Selection Committee constitutes a Search Committee of at least seven persons to prepare a panel, but it may also consider a person outside that panel. Section 4(2) says that an appointment is not invalid merely because the Selection Committee has a vacancy.

Jurisdiction under Section 14

The Lokpal may inquire, or cause inquiry, into an allegation of corruption made in a complaint against specified persons, including:

• a current or former Prime Minister, subject to special exclusions and procedure;
• current or former Union Ministers;
• current or former Members of Parliament;
• Group A, B, C and D Union officers and officials, with the routing rules in Section 20;
• officers and employees of bodies established by an Act of Parliament or financed or controlled by the Union; and
• specified officers of other government-financed or foreign-funded societies, associations and trusts when the statutory or notified financial threshold is met.

Prime Minister safeguards

An allegation relating to international relations, external or internal security, public order, atomic energy or space is outside the Lokpal’s inquiry jurisdiction over the Prime Minister. Other initiation requires consideration by the full bench and approval by at least two-thirds of its Members. The inquiry is in camera; if dismissed, its records are not published.

Parliamentary speech and vote

Section 14(2) respects Article 105(2): the Lokpal cannot inquire into an allegation against an MP concerning anything said or a vote given in Parliament or a parliamentary committee. This is a specific privilege boundary, not total immunity for every alleged act of an MP.

Jurisdiction is allegation- and office-specific

The complaint must concern corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act and relate to the period when the person held or served in the covered capacity. Section 14 also permits inquiry into a connected person involved in abetment, bribe-giving, bribe-taking or conspiracy, subject to the Act’s conditions.

Complaint, inquiry and investigation process

Section 20 begins on receipt of a complaint. If the Lokpal decides to proceed, it may order a preliminary inquiry to determine whether a prima facie case exists, or an investigation where such a case exists. The Act assigns an important routing role to the Central Vigilance Commission for complaints concerning Union officers in Groups A to D.

Statutory timelines

The preliminary inquiry is ordinarily to be completed within 90 days and may be extended by a further 90 days for written reasons. An investigation is to be completed within six months, but the Lokpal may grant further extensions of up to six months at a time with recorded reasons. Section 35 expects the Special Court to complete trial within one year; reasoned three-month extensions are permitted, subject to the Act’s two-year outer framework.

Do not convert these into an unqualified claim that every proceeding must end within a single fixed period. Several stages have express extension clauses.

Powers and institutional relationships

The design is deliberately networked. The CVC may conduct preliminary inquiry for categories of Union officials. The CBI/DSPE may investigate a referred matter under Lokpal’s superintendence. The Prosecution Wing or investigating agency brings an appropriate case. The Special Court determines criminal liability and court-controlled asset consequences. Lokpal is therefore neither merely advisory nor a self-contained police–court system.

Procedural safeguards and accountability of Lokpal

• A public servant’s explanation is sought at the statutory stage, and a person whose reputation may be prejudicially affected must receive a reasonable opportunity of hearing consistent with natural justice.
• Complaints against the Chairperson or Members follow the removal framework in Section 37, including the specified Supreme Court inquiry route for misbehaviour.
• Lokpal’s accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General and laid before Parliament.
• Section 20 requires public display of aggregate pending and disposed complaint status in the prescribed manner.
• A false, frivolous or vexatious complaint can attract Section 46 after conviction by the Special Court, but the provision expressly protects complaints made in good faith.

Lokpal and Lokayukta: not identical institutions

UPSC recall

1. Lokpal is a statutory body for the Union; it is not created by a constitutional article.
2. The President appoints on the recommendation of the five-member Selection Committee.
3. Fifty per cent of Members are Judicial Members; at least half of Members meet the representation proviso in Section 3.
4. Prime Minister jurisdiction has subject exclusions, a full-bench requirement, a two-thirds threshold and confidentiality safeguards.
5. Article 105(2) protects parliamentary speech and votes; it does not create blanket personal immunity.
6. Lokpal’s superintendence over CBI is matter-specific to cases referred under the Act.
7. Section 63 leaves State Legislatures to enact their Lokayukta frameworks.