The Lokpal of India is the national anti-corruption ombudsman set up under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013. It can inquire into corruption complaints against public servants, including Members of Parliament and central government officials. Its Annual Report 2021-22 — the latest annual report available on its website — sets out how many complaints it received and what happened to them. Every figure below is taken from that report.
Complaints received each year
- 2019-20: 1,427 complaints were registered. The report says most were considered and disposed of.
- 2020-21: 2,355 complaints were received. Only 131 were in the prescribed format; the other 2,224 were not.
- 2021-22: 5,680 complaints were received. Only 169 were in the prescribed format; the other 5,511 were not.
Since 2 March 2020, complaints must be filed in a format laid down by government rules. Complainants who wrote in another form were advised to re-file in that format. In February 2022 the Lokpal decided to take up non-format complaints as well, and says duplicate emails about the same issue are merged into one complaint.
What happened to the 2021-22 complaints
Position as of 31 March 2022, from the report's own table:
| Type of complaint | Received | Registered | Disposed of | Pending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In format (2021-22) | 169 | 149 | 121 | 28 |
| Not in format (2021-22) | 5,511 | 410 | 349 | 5,162 |
| Not in format (2020-21) | 2,224 | 1,699 | 1,479 | 220 |
In 2021-22 the Lokpal's benches ordered 28 preliminary inquiries, conducted through the CBI or the Central Vigilance Commission. By the end of the year, 17 of those cases had been closed after the inquiry report was considered, 8 reports were still awaited, and in 3 cases the public servant had been given a hearing under section 20(3) of the Act.
Who the complaints were about
The report breaks down the 149 in-format complaints taken up in 2021-22:
| Category of public servant | Complaints |
|---|---|
| Members of Parliament | 8 |
| Central government Group A or B officials | 35 |
| Bodies set up or funded by the central government | 49 |
| State government and state-level PSU officials | 47 |
| Requests, comments or suggestions | 1 |
| Others | 9 |
| Total | 149 |
By the nature of the allegation, the largest group was "wrong action or inaction by officials" (61). Thirteen complaints concerned offences related to bribing a public servant, 12 alleged undue benefit to others, 11 criminal misappropriation and 2 a public servant enriching himself.
Reading these numbers carefully
A complaint is an allegation, not a finding. The report does not say how many complaints were proven, and a closed case is not the same as a cleared or convicted person. We have not named anyone: the report does not, and we report on individuals only on the record of an investigating agency or a court.
Source document: Lokpal of India, Annual Report 2021-22 (PDF), pages 25-28.
How we verified this
VerifiedEvery number read directly from the Lokpal Annual Report 2021-22 PDF (lokpal.gov.in), pages 25-28: yearly complaint totals, the 2021-22 status table, preliminary inquiries (28 ordered, 17 closed, 8 awaited, 3 heard) and the category/allegation tables. Bench members named in the report are deliberately omitted. No individuals accused are named.
Sources
- 1.Annual Report 2021-22 (English), pages 25-28 — Lokpal of India
- 2.Lokpal of India — official website — Lokpal of India
