Lokpal

Lokpal seeks Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch's response on Hindenburg charges

Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal on Friday sought SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch's "explanation" on complaints of impropriety and conflict of interest filed by a Lok Sabha member and two others on the basis of a report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, according to an official order. The Lokpal, however, clarified its order is only a "procedural directive" and "not an expression of our opinion on any matter in issue, either way". Buch, the chairperson of capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has been asked to submit her response within four weeks, according to the order. "...We deem it appropriate to call upon the named RPS (respondent public servant) to offer explanation qua the allegations made against her in the respective complainant and elaborated in the concerned explanatory affidavit," reads the order signed by Lokpal chairperson Justice A M Khanwilkar and five other members. "This opportunity is being afforded to the named RPS as

Complaint against Sebi chief falls short of persuading us to probe: Lokpal

Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has said that a complaint by a Lok Sabha MP alleging impropriety and conflict of interest by capital markets regulator SEBI's chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch "falls short" of persuading it to order any probe. While deciding on two complaints filed by different individuals on the basis of a report by US-based "activist short-seller" Hindenburg Research, it asked the complainants to file affidavits mentioning details of the efforts made by them "to verify the authenticity and credibility of the claims in the recent report of Hindenburg Research published on 10.08.2024." It also asked them to articulate the allegations against the "person concerned" which may constitute an "offence of corruption" within the ambit of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, 'provision wise', as per the Lokpal's order dated September 20, which was put up in public domain "to obviate the possibility of speculation and misinformation including politicisation of the ...

Mahua Moitra files Lokpal complaint against Sebi Chief Buch over Adani ties

TMC parliamentarian Mahua Moitra's complaint points out alleged irregularities between Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Buch's statement to the Sebi board and the board's disclosure on the matter

Lokpal forms inquiry wing to probe graft cases against public servants

Over a decade after a law governing it was passed, anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has constituted an inquiry wing for conducting preliminary probe into graft-related offences committed by public servants. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 (Act of 2013) came into force on January 1, 2014, when it received assent of the President. However, it began functioning only on March 27, 2019, following the appointment of its chairperson and members. To discharge its statutory functions, Section 11 of the Act obligates the Lokpal to constitute an inquiry wing for the purpose of conducting preliminary inquiry into any offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, alleged to have been committed by the specified public servants and functionaries. The full bench of Lokpal, in its meeting held on August 30, 2024, has decided to constitute an inquiry wing of the Lokpal, according to an official order. Lokpal chairperson has been authorised to commence the selection process for

Former SC judge A M Khanwilkar administered oath as Lokpal chairperson

Former Supreme Court judge Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar was administered the oath of office as the Lokpal chairperson by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Sunday, officials said. Justice (retired) Khanwilkar, 66, served as a judge of the apex court from May 13, 2016 to July 29, 2022. The President administered the oath of office of chairperson, Lokpal to Khanwilkar at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Sunday evening, according to an official statement. Justice (retired) Khanwilkar was appointed as the chairperson of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal last month, nearly two years after the post fell vacant following the retirement of Pinaki Chandra Ghose on May 27, 2022.

Former SC judge A M Khanwilkar appointed as the Lokpal chairperson

Former Supreme Court judge A M Khanwilkar was appointed as the Lokpal chairperson on Tuesday, according to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Justice Khanwilkar retired from the Supreme Court in July 2022. According to a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President also appointed former high court judges Lingappa Narayana Swamy, Sanjay Yadav and Ritu Raj Awasthi as judicial members of the Lokpal. Sushil Chandra, Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey were appointed as non-judicial members of the anti-corruption ombudsman.

CBI asks lawyer Dehadrai to appear before it in connection with Moitra case

The CBI has asked lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai to appear before it on Thursday in connection with its probe against former TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a Lokpal-referred corruption complaint against her, officials said Tuesday. Dehadrai, who was once close to Moitra, had levelled serious corruption allegations against the former MP which were strongly refuted by her, they said. The agency has asked Dehadrai to appear before the AC-3 unit of the agency at 2 PM on Thursday to record his version, they said. The CBI has started a probe into the allegations of corruption against Moitra on a reference from the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had approached the Lokpal with a complaint against Moitra over allegations that she had taken bribes to raise questions in Parliament. Last month, Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to ..

Delhi High Court to pronounce order on Shibu Soren's plea on Monday

The Delhi High Court will on Monday pronounce order on a petition by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren challenging the proceedings initiated against him by the Lokpal on the basis of a complaint by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleging corruption. The verdict will be pronounced by a single-judge bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad. In the complaint made in August 2020, BJP leader Dubey claimed that "Shibu Soren and his family members acquired huge wealth and properties by misusing the public exchequer and have been grossly indulged in corruption". On September 12, 2022, the high court had stayed the Lokpal proceedings while opining that the matter required consideration. Assailing the complaint as well as the Lokpal proceedings, Soren has argued before the high court that the case against him was "purely malafide" and "politically motivated". He argued that the complaint could not have been entertained by the ombudsman as the allegations pertained to a period that was seven years

Lokpal has ordered CBI probe against Mahua Moitra, says BJP MP Dubey

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday said the Lokpal has ordered a CBI probe against TMC MP Mahua Moitra on his complaint of alleged corruption by her. This comes days after the BJP MP accused Moitra of asking questions in the Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts. The matter is being looked into by the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha. Moitra has denied the charge of receiving any pecuniary benefit. In a post on X, Dubey wrote, "On my complaint, Lokpal today ordered a CBI inquiry against accused Mahua Moitra for indulging in corruption at the cost of national security." However, there was no official word from the Lokpal.

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'Cash for query' scandal: Dubey moves Lokpal against Moitra, demands probe

The move by the BJP Lok Sabha MP to move the anti-corruption watchdog against Moitra comes at a time when the Ethics Committee of the Lower House is already looking into the allegations against her

Last date to apply for posts of Lokpal chairperson, members extended

A high-level search committee has extended the date for receiving applications for the posts of chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal, which has been working without a regular chief for over a year. The last date for sending applications was September 28. It has now been now been extended to October 13. Apart from a chairperson, Lokpal can have eight members -- four judicial and the rest non-judicial. At present, the anti-corruption ombudsman has five members with the vacancy for two judicial members and a non-judicial member. The Lokpal has been working without its regular chief after Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27 last year. Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, a judicial member of Lokpal, is currently the acting chairperson. The Centre had in August appointed Press Council of India chairperson Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as the chairperson of the 10-member search committee to recommend the chief and members of the anti-corruption .

Not prosecuted anyone to date, Lokpal's performance far from satisfactory

Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has not prosecuted a single person accused of graft to date and its performance seems to be far from satisfactory, a Parliamentary panel has said and asked it to act as an enabler rather than an inhibitor. In a report tabled in Parliament recently, it said several complaints are being disposed of by the Lokpal on the ground that they are not in the prescribed format and asked it not to reject genuine complaints. The panel raised a query about the non-filling up of the post of the chairperson of Lokpal, which has been vacant since May last year, and sought the government's response on the action being taken to fill up the vacancies. "The Committee infers from the data provided by the Lokpal that a large number of complaints are being disposed of on the ground that they are not in the prescribed format. Lokpal has submitted to the Committee that it has not prosecuted even a single person accused of graft till date," it said. The panel said it is of th

Karnataka BJP MLA's son caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh

Prashanth Madal, son of BJP MLA from Channagiri, Madal Virupakshappa, works as a chief accountant with the BWSSB, and was caught accepting the bribe in his father's office

Don't proceed with probe ordered by Lokpal against MCD: HC directs CBI

The judge said that as per the law, there has to be preliminary investigation by an agency to ascertain whether a prima facie case is made out to proceed further

CM, Cabinet to come under Lokayukta law: Maharashtra Deputy CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra will have a Lokayukta law on the lines of the Centre's Lokpal law which will also bring chief minister and ministers under its ambit, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday. Addressing a press conference on the eve of the winter session of the state legislature, he said a bill in this regard will be introduced. The recommendations of a panel led by social activist Anna Hazare have been accepted completely. He said the Lokayukta will be a retired chief justice of the High Court or a Supreme Court (judge). "The chief minister will be brought under the ambit of Lokayukta and so will the ministers (of the state Cabinet)," Fadnavis added.

Lokpal gets 1,719 graft complaints, 136 were registered inquiry this year

Anti-graft ombudsman Lokpal has got 1,719 corruption complaints so far this year, of which 136 were registered for conducting inquiry, according to an official data. In reply to an RTI query, the office of Lokpal said that out of the total complaints received during 2022-23 (till August 21, 2022), 134 were in the prescribed format and 1,585 were in non-format. A total of 133 complaints received in the format -- prescribed for filing of graft complaints -- were registered and 83 of them were disposed and 50 were pending (of these 12 were pending due to inquiry or investigation), it said. Of the non-formatted complaints, only three of them were registered, the office of Lokpal said in reply to the RTI application filed by this PTI journalist. A total of 1,635 graft complaints, out of the 1,719 received in 2022-23, were pending, it said. The central government had in March 2020 notified the Lokpal (Complaint) Rules, which prescribe the format to file a complaint. The Lokpal had last

Lokpal to accept corruption complaints filed in prescribed format only

Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has decided to accept corruption complaints for further disposal only if they are filed in a prescribed format. The central government had in March 2020 notified the Lokpal (Complaint) Rules, which prescribe the format to file a complaint. In accordance with these rules, Lokpal had issued a circular in July last year detailing the procedure to be followed for dealing with the complaints received in its office. Subsequently, vide a corrigendum dated February 10 this year, it was decided that complaints that are not in the prescribed format shall be put up before the Lokpal chairperson for necessary orders or action. The provisions contained in the corrigendum now have been revisited by the full bench of Lokpal. "The full bench of Lokpal of India has decided that henceforth (with immediate effect), complaints received (by any mode viz. by hand/ by post/ through email etc.) in the office of the Lokpal of India that are not in the prescribed form will

Anti-corruption body Lokpal gets 5,680 complaints during 2021-22: RTI

Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal received 5,680 complaints during 2021-22, of which over 5,100 were yet to be registered, according to an RTI reply

Lokpal fails to sanction prosecution of anyone in nearly three years

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, states that the Lokpal shall constitute a prosecution wing headed by the director of prosecution for the purpose of prosecution of public servants