THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 19 JANUARY 2019 (Nudged into action: on the Lokpal Act)

Nudged into action: on the Lokpal Act

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Lokpal Act
Mains level: Basic Structure

Context

•  It should have never come to this on the Lokpal.
•  That it requires a Supreme Court order to nudge the government to make any progress towards establishing the anti-graft institution is a poor commentary on its functioning.
•  The court has asked the eight-member Search Committee under the Lokpal Act to recommend a panel of names before the end of February.
•  This shortlist has to be sent to the Selection Committee, headed by the Prime Minister.
•  It has taken five years since the Lokpal Act, 2013, received the President’s assent on January 1, 2014, for a Search Committee to even begin its work.
•  It was formed only on September 27, 2018, after Common Cause, an NGO, filed a contempt petition against the government over the delay in constituting the authority despite a Supreme Court verdict in April 2017.

Requirement of the search committee

•  It is true that setting up the Search Committee requires some groundwork, as its composition should be drawn from diverse fields such as anti-corruption policy, public administration, law, banking and insurance; also, half its membership should consist of women, backward class, minority and SC/ST candidates.
•  However, it is the government’s duty to expedite this process and not cite it as a reason for delay.
•  After it was formed, the Search Committee has been handicapped because of lack of office space, manpower, infrastructure and a secretariat. The court has now asked the government to provide the required infrastructure.
•  In the past too, the court has admonished the Centre for the delay in creating the institution.
•  In its April 2017 verdict, the court brushed aside the reason that the government was awaiting the passage of an amendment based on a parliamentary committee report and said there was no legal bar on the Selection Committee moving ahead with its work even if there was a vacancy in it.

Way forward

•  There is a good deal of politics behind the delay.
•  The government sticks to its view that he has not been recognised as the Leader of the Opposition by the Speaker.
•  This minor issue has been resolved in respect of appointments to other posts such as CBI Director and Central Vigilance Commissioner by a simple amendment to treat the leader of the largest Opposition party as the Leader of the Opposition for this purpose.
•  This amendment has not been brought about despite a parliamentary committee report endorsing the idea in December 2015.
•  Nothing except the lack of political will to establish the Lokpal can explain years of delay.

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General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Consider the following statements between India’s Connectivity Projects through Myanmar:
A. Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project is a project that will connect the eastern Indian seaport of Odisha with Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar by sea.
B. IMT Trilateral Highway is a regional highway being constructed under India’s Act East policy. It will connect Moreh in India with Mae Sot, Thailand via Myanmar.

Choose the correct option:
A. A only
B. B only
C. Both A and B
D. Neither A nor B

Answer: B

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What is lokpal? What it needs to be established?