Ombudsman is a public officer who acts independently and non-partially and his function is to supervise the administration. For a nation to develop, the administrative side of the nation has to function properly and efficiently and it has to be ensured that there is no corruption in the sphere of administration, because corruption is the biggest hinderance in the development of any nation. In India, the role is played by Lokpal in the centre and the Lokyuktas in the state level.
Mainly the public are the victim of administrative and political corruption. For the redemption of grievances and removal of corruption. The common man has to rely upon the bureaucracy which itself is the enemy complained against.
A strong voice was raised for establishment of machinery which can redeem grievances of people against administration. During the past few decades, countries have adopted different devices and procedures to improve administrative accountability on the public servant.
There was timelines of efforts to establish Lokpal in India. From 1968 to 2011, the Lokpal bill was introduced in parliament for eight times but it was not passed. In 2002, the commission to review the working of the constitution recommended the appointment of the Lokpal and Lokyukta, and also recommended that the PM should be kept out of the ambit of the authority. Again in 2011, introduced in Lok sabha but could not be passed in Rajya sabha. The Lokpal and Lokyuktas Act,2013 seeks to provide for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and Lokyuktas for states to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for election purpose. The act mandates for creation of Lokpal for union and Lokyuktas states.
Lokpal is a is a multimember body, made up of one chairperson and maximum of 8 members. The person who is to be appointed as the Chairperson of Lokpal should be either of the following: A CJI or a former judge of Supreme Court. Many ombudsman work to a brief which goes beyond more narrow definitions of maladministration.
Parliamentary ombudsman is responsible for supervision of specific areas of administrative activity or for protecting the interests of specific groups for example as regards the police, correctional institutions, military services, data protection or protection of the disabled/incapacitated. Statutory ombudsman is responsible for scrutinising centrally regulated but essentially commercial activities for example legal or financial services or with expect to save nature. The rapporteur believes that the ombudsman can play a valuable supplementary role in receiving information to resort to an internal procedures which could either be ineffective or otherwise reasonable for example endemic corruption of Administration of India.
References:
1. https://www.ijsr.net/get_abstract.php?paper_id=ART2018600#:~:text=Ombudsman%20is%20a%20public%20officer,against%20administrative%20injustice%20and%20maladministration.
2. https://www.lawcolumn.in/ombudsman-the-administrative-watchdog/
3. http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-103-study-of-ambudsman.html
4. https://thefactfactor.com/facts/law/civil_law/administrative-law/ombudsman/4268/
5. https://www.srdlawnotes.com/2018/11/what-is-ombudsman-origin.html
About the Author:-
This Article has been written by Aryan Sinha, 5th Year law (BBA+LLB(H) student at Galgotias University, Greater Noida.
