The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013

(1) This Act may be called the Lokpal andLokayuktas Act, 2013. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall apply to public servants in and outside India. (4) It shall come into force on such date 1as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) 'bench" means a bench of the Lokpal; (b) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Lokpal; (c) "competent authority", in relation to (i) the Prime Minister, means the House of the People; (ii) a member of the Council of Ministers, means the Prime Minister; (iii) a member of Parliament other than a Minister, means (A) in the case of a member of the Council of States, the Chairman of the Council;and (B) in the case of a member of the House of the People, the Speaker of the House; (iv) an officer in the Ministry or Department of the Central Government, means the Ministerin charge of the Ministry or Department under which the officer is serving; (v) a chairperson or members of any body or Board or corporation or authority or company orsociety or autonomous body (by whatever name called) established or constituted under any Actof Parliament or wholly or partly financed by the Central Government or controlled by it, means the Minister in charge of the administrative Ministry of such body or Board or corporation orauthority or company or society or autonomous body; (vi) an officer of any body or Board or corporation or authority or company or society orautonomous body (by whatever name called) established or constituted under any Act ofParliament or wholly or partly financed by the Central Government or controlled by it, means thehead of such body or Board or corporation or authority or company or society or autonomousbody; (vii) in any other case not falling under sub-clauses (i) to (vi) above, means such Departmentor authority as the Central Government may, by notification, specify: Provided that if any person referred to in sub-clause (v) or sub-clause (vi) is also a member ofParliament, then, the competent authority shall be (A) in case such member is a member of the Council of States, the Chairman of theCouncil; and (B) in case such member is a member of the House of the People, the Speaker of theHouse; (d) "Central Vigilance Commission" means the Central Vigilance Commission constitutedunder sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 (45 of 2003); (e) "complaint" means a complaint, made in such form as may be prescribed, alleging that apublic servant has committed an offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988(49 of 1988); (f) "Delhi Special Police Establishment" means the Delhi Special Police Establishmentconstituted under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946(25 of 1946); (g) "investigation" means an investigation as defined under clause (h) of section 2 of theCode of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974); (h) "Judicial" Member means a Judicial Member of the Lokpal; (i) "Lokpal" means the body established under section 3; (j) "Member" means a Member of the Lokpal; (k) "Minister" means a Union Minister but does not include the Prime Minister; (l) "notification" means notification published in the Official Gazette and the expressionnotify shall be construed accordingly; (m) "preliminary inquiry" means an inquiry conducted under this Act; (n) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (o) "public servant" means a person referred to in clauses (a) to (h) of sub-section (1) ofsection 14 but does not include a public servant in respect of whom the jurisdiction is exercisableby any court or other authority under the Army Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), the Air Force Act, 1950(46 of 1950), the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957) and the Coast Guard Act, 1978 (30 of 1978) or theprocedure is applicable to such public servant under those Acts; (p) "regulations" means regulations made under this Act; (q) "rules" means rules made under this Act; (r) "Schedule" means a Schedule appended to this Act; (s) "Special Court" means the court of a Special Judge appointed under sub-section (1) ofsection 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (49 of 1988). (2) The words and expressions used herein and not defined in this Act but defined in the Preventionof Corruption Act, 1988 (49 of 1988), shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act. (3) Any reference in this Act to any other Act or provision thereof which is not in force in any area towhich this Act applies shall be construed to have a reference to the corresponding Act or provisionthereof in force in such area.

(1) On and from the commencement of this Act, there shall beestablished, for the purpose of this Act, a body to be called the "Lokpal". (2) The Lokpal shall consist of (a) a Chairperson, who is or has been a Chief Justice of India or is or has been a Judge of theSupreme Court or an eminent person who fulfills the eligibility specified in clause (b) ofsub-section (3); and (b) such number of Members, not exceeding eight out of whom fifty per cent. shall be JudicialMembers: Provided that not less than fifty per cent. of the Members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst thepersons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes,Minorities and women. (3) A person shall be eligible to be appointed, (a) as a Judicial Member if he is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or is or has been aChief Justice of a High Court; (b) as a Member other than a Judicial Member, if he is a person of impeccable integrity andoutstanding ability having special knowledge and expertise of not less than twenty-five years in thematters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance includinginsurance and banking, law and management. (4) The Chairperson or a Member shall not be (i) a member of Parliament or a member of the Legislature of any State or Union territory; (ii) a person convicted of any offence involving moral turptitude; (iii) a person of less than forty-five years of age, on the date of assuming office as theChairperson or Member, as the case may be; (iv) a member of any Panchayat or Municipality; (v) a person who has been removed or dismissed from the service of the Union or a State, and shall not hold any office of trust or profit (other than his office as the Chairperson or a Member) or beaffiliated with any political party or carry on any business or practise any profession and, accordingly,before he enters upon his office, a person appointed as the Chairperson or a Member, as the case may be,shall, if (a) he holds any office of trust or profit, resign from such office; or (b) he is carrying on any business, sever his connection with the conduct and management of suchbusiness; or (c) he is practising any profession, cease to practise such profession.

(1) The Chairperson and Members shall be appointed by the President after obtaining therecommendations of a Selection Committee consisting of-- (a) the Prime Minister--Chairperson; (b) the Speaker of the House of the People--Member; (c) the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People--Member; (d) the Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him--Member; (e) one eminent jurist, as recommended by the Chairperson and Members referred to in clauses(a) to (d) above, to be nominated by the President--Member. (2) No appointment of a Chairperson or a Member shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancyin the Selection Committee. (3) The Selection Committee shall for the purposes of selecting the Chairperson and Members of theLokpal and for preparing a panel of persons to be considered for appointment as such, constitute a SearchCommittee consisting of at least seven persons of standing and having special knowledge and expertise inthe matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, policy making, financeincluding insurance and banking, law and management or in any other matter which, in the opinion of theSelection Committee, may be useful in making the selection of the Chairperson and Members of theLokpal: Provided that not less than fifty per cent. of the members of the Search Committee shall be fromamongst the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes,Minorities and women: Provided further that the Selection Committee may also consider any person other than the personsrecommended by the Search Committee. (4) The Selection Committee shall regulate its own procedure in a transparent manner for selectingthe Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal. (5) The term of the Search Committee referred to in sub-section (3), the fees and allowances payableto its members and the manner of selection of panel of names shall be such as may be prescribed.

The President shall take or cause to be takenall necessary steps for the appointment of a new Chairperson and Members at least three months beforethe expiry of the term of the Chairperson or Member, as the case may be, in accordance with theprocedure laid down in this Act.