Justice Dilip B. Bhosale has resigned as a member of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal, citing personal reasons, nine months after he was appointed to the constitutional post.

A former chief justice of the Allahabad High Court, Bhosale was administered the oath of office by Lokpal chairman Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose on March 27, 2019.

Size of the Lokpal panel

There is a provision for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal panel. Of these, four need to be judicial members.

The chairperson and members of the Lokpal are appointed by the President for a five-year term or till attaining the age of 70.

All the eight Lokpal members were administered the oath of office by Justice Ghose on March 27.

Besides Bhosale, former chief justices of different high courts - Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi - had taken oath as judicial members of the Lokpal.

The first female chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Archana Ramasundaram, former Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and former IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam were sworn in as the Lokpal’s non-judicial members.

According to rules, an incumbent on ceasing office as a Lokpal member is barred from taking up any diplomatic assignment or contesting any election of president, vice-president, member of either House of Parliament or state legislature among others.

What is the Lokpal’s role?

The Lokpal is the first institution of its kind in independent India, established under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, to inquire and investigate into allegations of corruption against public functionaries who fall within the scope and ambit of the above Act.

The Lokpal is committed to address concerns and aspirations of the citizens for clean governance. It shall make all efforts within its jurisdiction to serve the public interest and shall endeavor to use the powers vested in it to eradicate corruption in public life.

The Lokpal has jurisdiction to inquire into allegations of corruption against anyone who is or has been the prime minister, or a minister in the Union government, or an MP, as well as government officials.

A complaint under the Lokpal Act should be in the prescribed form and must pertain to an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against a public servant. There is no restriction on who can make such a complaint.

The government is working on finalising a format to file a complaint with the Lokpal.

In October, the Lokpal decided to accept one shloka of ‘Ishabasoupanishad’ as its motto - Ma Gridhah Kasyasvidhanam. It is in Sanskrit and means “do not be greedy for anyone’s wealth”.

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