The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013

[13][14] The Bill was introduced in the parliament following massive public protests led by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and his associates.

[25] Retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose was appointed as the first Lokpal of India by a committee consisting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Eminent Jurist Mukul Rohatgi on 17 March 2019.

[26] The term Lokpal was coined in 1963 by Laxmi Mall Singhvi, a member of parliament during a parliamentary debate about grievance mechanisms.

[27] The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) headed by Morarji Desai submitted an interim report on "Problems of Redressal of Citizen's Grievances" in 1966.

[39][40] Hazare started an indefinite hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to pressure the government to create an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill.

[45] Team Anna presented their version of the bill with a slight modification relating to the selection panel to choose the Lokpal and its members.

HRD Minister and Committee member Kapil Sibal, said that both the sides were keen that the new Bill should be introduced in the Monsoon session, which would begin early July.

Various models were discussed, including from other countries and of institutions like the Supreme Court, the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Central Vigilance Commission.

"[54] Another group of civil society members led by Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander working for a strong Lokpal Bill, upped its ante against Team Anna.

Under the banner of the "National Campaign for People's Right to Information" (NCPRI)[55] they claimed that Anna's diktat could be dangerous and that the government's functioning could not be handled by one group.

[56][57][clarification needed] The 23 May meeting in 2011 lasted over three hours and the two sides agreed "in-principle" on half of the 40 basic principles for the anti-graft Lokpal bill proposed by the civil society members.

The Chairman of the Panel announced that the conduct of the MPs' inside Parliament would remain outside its remit of the Lokpal to comply with [Article 105(2)] of the Constitution and that the views of the State and the political parties would be discussed with the civil society members.

[63] Shanti Bhushan produced a letter that was read by the Chair "indicating their inability to attend the meeting" and "that what happened at the Ramlila ground had nothing to do with the proceedings of the Joint Drafting Committee".

V Narayanasamy told the House that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in favour of bringing his office under the purview of the Lokpal, but the Cabinet rejected the idea after deliberation.

[75] The House agreed 'in principle' on a Citizen's Charter, placing the lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal and establishing the Lokayukta in the States.

[76] The Act was finally notified by President of India on 1 January 2014, after getting approved in both Houses of Parliament and Union Cabinet, providing for setting up of a institution of Lokpal, to be headed by a Chairperson, who is or has been a Chief Justice of India, or is or has been a judge of the Supreme Court, or a person of eminence fulfilling the eligibility criteria as specified in the Act.

The committee recommended keeping judiciary and MPs' out of the Lokpal's purview and rejected the demand to move the prosecution wing of CBI under its jurisdiction.

[86] Sixteen dissent notes were submitted at the meeting by members from BJP, BJD, SP, Congress, RJD and the Left.

"[90] The bill passed by the house was termed "useless" by Team Anna, who reiterated their view that there was no need to give constitutional status to such a weak Lokpal.

RJD leader Lalu Prasad, along with the support from the other parties like SP, AIMMM and LJP, demanded an inclusion of candidates from minorities in the nine member Lokpal Bench.

[92] The principal opposition party, the BJP, objected to it, classifying that such a move was illegal and asked the government to withdraw the bill.

[98][99] The ombudsman debate was taken up by The Rajya Sabha during the last day of the three-day extension of the winter session of Parliament, but the body recessed on 29 December without voting.

A verbal duel marred proceedings as some members including UPA ally Trinamool Congress interrupted V. Narayanasamy's defence of the Bill.

[102] A vociferous opposition insisted on a vote while the government maintained it needed time to reconcile the 187 amendments/ Confusion marked the proceedings.

Ansari asked for the national anthem Jana Gana Mana to be played, signalling the end of the proceedings and told the house: This is an unprecedented situation…there appears to be a desire to outshout each other.

Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley charged that the government was running away from Parliament and that the House should decide how long it should sit.

He also mentioned in the meeting that the Lokpal should be given a significant say in appointing the director of the prosecution wing instead of the process being controlled by the law ministry as is currently the procedure, the persistent criticism about CBI's investigations being throttled by political directives could be addressed as well.

The select committee had in its earlier sittings examined senior law officials who agreed with the members that the prescription for lokayuktas under Article 253 that refers to fulfilment of international obligations – in this case the UN convention against corruption – might not be feasible.

Mr. Deepak Tongli of Hyderabad had come with a proposal of setting up the lower most unit to keep regular check on Anti Corruption in petty cases at District Level.

Mr. Tongli, aged 26 happened to be the youngest person to appear before the Parliamentary committee for Oral Evidence at Rajya Sabha.