The creation of the institution of Lokpal was first recommended by
- (a)Law Commission
- (b)Santhanam Committee
- (c)Shah Commission
- (d)Administrative Reforms Commission
Correct — D, the Administrative Reforms Commission. The First Administrative Reforms Commission was constituted on 5 January 1966 under Morarji Desai, who handed over the chairmanship to K. Hanumanthaiah when he became Deputy Prime Minister. Its early report on the redressal of citizens' grievances proposed a two-tier ombudsman for India — a Lokpal at the Centre to look into complaints against ministers and secretaries, and Lokayuktas in the states. That 1966 recommendation is the origin of the institution, and every later Lokpal bill traces back to it.
- (a)Law Commission — The Law Commission of India is an executive-order body that advises the government on legal reform, and it has reported on a very wide range of subjects. The ombudsman proposal, however, is credited to the Administrative Reforms Commission, not to it.
- (b)Santhanam Committee — The most attractive wrong answer, because it really is an anti-corruption body — but it produced a different institution. The Committee on Prevention of Corruption headed by K. Santhanam led to the Central Vigilance Commission, set up by a government resolution of 11 February 1964 with Nittoor Srinivasa Rau as the first Chief Vigilance Commissioner. That was two years before the Lokpal was proposed.
- (c)Shah Commission — Wrong period and wrong subject. The Shah Commission was appointed in 1977 to inquire into the excesses committed during the Emergency. It was an investigative commission into past events, not a body designing new institutions of grievance redressal.
The Lokpal is India's version of the ombudsman, an office borrowed in idea from Scandinavia and adapted for a parliamentary democracy. Its purpose is to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries, including the Prime Minister with safeguards, ministers, members of Parliament and senior officials. It is a statutory body created by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, which received assent on 1 January 2014; the Lokpal consists of a chairperson and up to eight members, of whom at least half must be judicial members.
A question of this type is really asking you to keep four bodies apart by what each produced. Santhanam gave the Central Vigilance Commission in 1964. The Administrative Reforms Commission gave the Lokpal and Lokayuktas proposal in 1966. The Shah Commission inquired into the Emergency in 1977. The Law Commission works on statutes. Notice how long the gap is between the recommendation and the institution: bills were introduced repeatedly from the late 1960s onward and lapsed, the Act came only in 2013, and the first Lokpal chairperson, Justice P. C. Ghose, took office on 23 March 2019 — nearly two years after this paper was set.
- The First Administrative Reforms Commission, constituted on 5 January 1966, recommended a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the states.
- Its first chairman was Morarji Desai, succeeded by K. Hanumanthaiah.
- The Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption led instead to the Central Vigilance Commission, set up on 11 February 1964.
- The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 received assent on 1 January 2014, making the Lokpal a statutory and not a constitutional body.
- The Lokpal comprises a chairperson and up to eight members, at least half of them judicial.
- Justice P. C. Ghose became the first Lokpal chairperson on 23 March 2019.
- 1964 — Central Vigilance Commission set up on the Santhanam Committee's recommendation
- 1966 — First Administrative Reforms Commission recommends a Lokpal and Lokayuktas
- 2013 — Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act passed; assent on 1 January 2014
- 2019 — Justice P. C. Ghose takes office as the first Lokpal chairperson
The recommendation of 1966 belongs to the Administrative Reforms Commission, which makes the answer option (d).
- Crediting the Santhanam Committee with the Lokpal; it produced the Central Vigilance Commission.
- Calling the Lokpal a constitutional body — it is created by statute.
- Confusing the Administrative Reforms Commission with the Shah Commission, which was a post-Emergency inquiry.
This topic comes as which-body-recommended-what, as the composition of the Lokpal selection committee, or as a constitutional-versus-statutory classification.
Which one among the following commissions was set up in pursuance of a definite provision under an Article of the Constitution of India?
- (a) University Grants Commission
- (b) National Human Rights Commission
- (c) Election Commission
- (d) Central Vigilance Commission
Answer(c) Election Commission
Sorts the same family of watchdog bodies by legal basis, and confirms that the Central Vigilance Commission — the tempting distractor here — is not a constitutional body.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Central Vigilance Commission was set up in 1964 on the recommendation of
- (a)the First Administrative Reforms Commission
- (b)the Santhanam Committee
- (c)the Law Commission
- (d)the Shah Commission
Answer(b) the Santhanam Committee — the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, whose report produced the CVC.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Lokpal in India is best described as
- (a)a constitutional body
- (b)a statutory body
- (c)an executive body created by resolution
- (d)a judicial tribunal under Article 323A
Answer(b) a statutory body — created by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.