The national anti-corruption ombudsman set up under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries, including the Prime Minister.
- Statutory body created by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 (which came into force in January 2014); the first Lokpal chairperson was appointed in March 2019.
- Composition: a chairperson and up to eight members, of whom at least half must be judicial members and at least half must be from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities or women.
- The chairperson is appointed by the President on the recommendation of a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and including the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Justice of India (or a Judge nominated by the CJI) and an eminent jurist.
- Jurisdiction covers the Prime Minister (with safeguards excluding international relations, security, public order, atomic energy and space), Ministers, MPs and Group A to D officers.
- The Act also requires every State to set up a Lokayukta within one year.
The 2013 Act, the inclusion of the PM with safeguards, the composition rules and the selection committee are standard governance and anti-corruption facts.
The Lokpal is statutory, not constitutional; it inquires and recommends but is not a court; the State-level counterpart is the Lokayukta, not a "State Lokpal".
Statutory anti-corruption ombudsman (Act of 2013) with a chairperson and up to eight members, covering even the PM with safeguards.