Anti-Corruption Ombudsman Lokpal Received Over 5,000 Complaints During 2021-22: Reveals RTI
|Out of the total complaints, 169 were format, and 5,511 were non-format. As many as 61 non-format complaints were unresolved with various organisations, and 5,101 "complaints (were) yet to be registered" for 2021-22.
Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal received 5,680 complaints during 2021-22, out of which more than 5,100 were yet to be registered, according to a Right to Information (RTI) response.
Out of the total complaints obtained in the last fiscal year, 169 were format, and 5,511 were under the non-format category, it noted. In March 2020, the government issued a format for registering corruption complaints against public servants with the Lokpal.
As many as 61 non-format complaints were unresolved with various organisations, and 5,101 "complaints (were) yet to be registered" for 2021-22, the Lokpal said in response to an RTI query registered by a Press Trust of India (PTI) journalist, reported The Indian Express.
Previous Data
The Lokpal had received a total of 2,355 complaints - 132 in format and 2,224 in non-format, during 2020-21, out of which 1,579 were disposed of, the reply mentioned.
It got 1,427 complaints in 2019-20, all of which were disposed of, noted the latest reply from the anti-graft ombudsman.
All complaints have to obligatorily give an affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper that, among other things, notes, "making any false and frivolous or vexatious complaint is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees," reported Business Today.
Anti-Corruption Ombudsman: Lokpal
Lokpal, the apex agency to inquire into and probe allegations of corruption against public representatives, including the prime minister, has been operating without its regular chief for the past month.
A judicial member of Lokpal, Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, has been holding additional charge of the designation of chairperson after Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his tenure on May 27.
Ram Nath Kovind, the president of India, had administered the oath of office to Justice Ghose as the chairperson of the body on March 23, 2019.
The body is headed by a chairperson and can have eight members, four judicial and the rest non-judicial. Presently, there are six members in the Lokpal, and two posts of judicial members have been lying vacant for over two years.
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