Components of Redressal Mechanism - Indian Polity Notes

To the people of India, the Government of India has provided various components of redressal mechanisms to receive compensation for wrongs done to them w.r.t their rights provided by the latter. The components of redressal mechanism is an important segment in Indian polity and governance for the UPSC civil services syllabus.

This article will introduce you to some of those components of redressal mechanisms:

1. PIL
2. Lok Pal
3. Lokayukta
4. Whistleblower Protection Act

Let us one-by-one introduce the topics:

Grievance Redressal Mechanism – Public Interest Litigation

• Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has meant a change in the traditional function of the Supreme Court.
• PIL has enabled the Supreme Court to exercise affirmative action to vindicate those socio-economic rights traditionally considered unenforceable by the court and has thus enlarged the scope of Article 32 of the Constitution (Right to constitutional Remedies).
• Through Public Interest Litigation, citizens seek judicial intervention, in a number of matters involving the interest of the public at large.
• Through this extended jurisdiction, the Indian judiciary has undertaken the responsibility to critique and monitor the government and its various agencies and to give socio-economic justice to the underprivileged masses without actually interesting with the political, administrative field or the legislative sphere. Read in detail about Social Justice on the given link.
• In the words of Justice P.N. Bhagwati of the Supreme Court :‘Public Interest Litigation’ is the strategic arm of the legal aid movement and aims at bringing justice within the reach of the poor vulnerable masses and helpless victims of injustice.
• Public Interest Litigation is meant to bring justice to the doorstep of the weak, the unorganized and exploited sections of society who have no access to the courts because of the prohibitive cost of litigation. Read more about Right Against Exploitation on the given link.
• PIL is a means by which justice can percolate down to the masses and be made more accessible and available to the poor and the victims of injustice.
• PIL is brought before the court not for the purpose of enforcing the right of one individual against another but it is intended to promote and vindicate public interest which demands that violation of constitutional or legal rights of a large number of people who are poor and ignorant, socially and economically in a disadvantageous position, should not go unnoticed or unredressed.
• It is not in the nature of adversary litigation but it is a challenge and an opportunity to the government and its officers to make basic human rights meaningful.
• The courts have done away with the rule of standing i.e. ‘locus’ evolved by Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence that only a person wronged can sue for judicial redress. This does not hold good in the present setting. Justice should become easily available to the lowly and the lost. Law should not remain a closed shop. Even under the old system it was permissible for the next friend to move the court on behalf of a minor or a person under disability or a person under detention or in restraint.
• Public interest Litigation has further relaxed the rule of locus standi.

Significance of PIL

Grievance Redressal Mechanism – Lok Pal

• The word ‘lokpal’ was coined by Dr L.M.Singhvi in 1963. The concept of a constitutional ombudsman was first proposed in parliament by Law Minister Ashoke Kumar Sen in the early 1960s. Read about Constitutional Morality on the given link.
• The first Jan Lokpal Bill was proposed by Shanti Bhushan in 1968 and passed in the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969, but did not pass through the Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, ‘lokpal bills’ were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, again by Ashoke Kumar Sen, while serving as Law Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet, and again in 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 2008, and in 2012 yet they were never passed.
• Fifty two years after its first introduction, the Lokpal Bill is still not enacted in India.
• The Lokpal Bill provides for the filing, with the ombudsman, of complaints of corruption against the prime minister, other ministers, and MPs.
• The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) recommended the enacting of the Office of a Lokpal, convinced that such an institution was justified, not only for removing the sense of injustice from the minds of citizens, but also to instill public confidence in the efficiency of the administrative machinery.
• Following this, the Lokpal Bill was, for the first time, presented during the fourth Lok Sabha in 1968, and was passed there in 1969. However, while it was pending in the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved, and thus the bill was not passed.
• The bill was revived several times in subsequent years, including in 2011. Each time, after the bill was introduced to the House, it was referred to a committee for improvements, to a joint committee of parliament, or to a departmental standing committee of the Home Ministry.
• Before the government could take a final stand on the issue, the house was dissolved again. Several conspicuous flaws were found in the 2008 draft of the Lokpal Bill.
• The basic idea of a lokpal is borrowed from the Office of the Ombudsman, which has the Administrative Reforms Committee of a lokpal at the Centre, Anna Hazare fought to get this bill passed and it did pass on Dec 27, 2011, with some modifications. These were proposed as the Jan Lokpal Bill.
• However, Hazare and his team, as well as other political parties, claimed that the Lokpal Bill passed was weak, and would not serve its intended purpose.
• So the proposed bill by the ruling Congress Party has yet to be accepted in the Rajya Sabha. As of Dec 29, 2011, the bill has been deferred to the next parliamentary session, amid much controversy and disruption by the LJP, RJD and SP parties.

Aspirants can read about, Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013 on the link given.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism – Jan Lokpal Bill

• The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists, seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within one year and conduct trials for the case within the next year.
• On 27 December 2011, the Lokpal bill was passed by the Lok Sabha after a day long debate and amendments. The Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy have been kept out of the jurisdiction of the Lokpal. The bill also keeps the CBI independent.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism – Whistle Blowers Protection Bill

• On 9 August 2010 the Whistle Blowers Protection Bill was approved by the Union Cabinet.
• The bill is officially known as the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010.
• The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2011 and then was sent to the concerned Standing Parliamentary Committee.
• The proposed legislation is designed to protect the whistleblowers to facilitate the disclosure of information, and uncover corruption and deceptive practices that exist in government organization.

Check out the updated list of Cabinet Ministers of India on the linked page.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism – Lokayukta

• Though, at central level no institution of Lokpal or Lokyukta has yet been established but at State level many states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, M.P., Kamataka, Bihar; H.P., Punjab, etc. have appointed Lokayuktas on the lines suggested by the ARC to deal with the problems of public grievances.
• It may be worth recalling that the Lok Ayuktas existing in several states-Andra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan..-and Uttar Pradesh-have, completely failed to curb political corruption. Although they are supposed to bring the chief minister and state ministers within their purview, they have hardly heen doing that. Read more about Chief Ministers and Council of Ministers on the given link.
• Public functionaries are targeted but politicians are left alone. Moreover, none of them has a uniform system or mode of functioning. While in some states they are authorised to direct prosecution, in others they can only recommend it to the concerned state government.
• It was to iron out these anomalies that in 1991, an Implementation Committee of five Lok Ayuktas came out with certain recommendations. Uniformity of status and provisions was on the top of the list. Significantly, these were ignored.
• At the moment, Lok Ayuktas are crippled by various lacunae; they do not have constitutional status and they lack the power to issue an interim order. Nor is action immediately taken on the completion of an enquiry in which an official is indicted.
• Unless there is political will towards comparative honesty and public pressure to cleanse polluted administration, institutions will he of no use.
• Furthermore, there has to be a clear understanding of ‘public duty’.
• As the Allahabad High Court pointed out, peaceful protesters cannot be shot or raped by the police under the guise of carrying out their responsibilities. The problem of redressal of people’s grievances cannot be solved by high powered bodies like Lokpal and Lokayuktas situated at capital headquarters away from the public.
• The citizens’ grievances mostly concern the ‘cutting edge’ of administration mostly at district level and below the point of contact between the citizen and the administration.
• The remedy lies in decentralisation of administration to make it accountable to the people. The second remedy is the organization of various interests of consumers or of various functional groups to look after their own particular interests.
• The farmer’s lobby, chambers of commerce, the labor organisations and consumers organizations are examples of such organisations. The organization of government servants, teachers, students, etc. do compel the government to agree to their demands. As a result, the unorganised people suffer and their grievances mostly remain unsolved.

1. The Lokayukta Bill 2011 prescribes that the Lokayukta shall consist of:
   • A chairperson, who is or has been a Chief Justice of a High Court or a judge of the High Court or an eminent person who fulfills the eligibility specified in this legislation; and
   • Such number of members, not exceeding eight, out of whom 50 per cent shall be Judicial Members. Out of these eight members, not less than 50 per cent will be from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women.
2. The chairperson and members shall be appointed by the Governor after obtaining the recommendations of a selection committee consisting of:
   • The Chief Minister as chairperson,
   • Speaker of the Legislative Assembly,
   • Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly,
   • Chief Justice of the High Court of the state or a judge of the High Court nominated by him, and
   • An eminent jurist nominated by the Governor as members.
3. The chairman and every member shall be appointed for a term of five years or till he attains the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.
4. Salary, allowances and other conditions of service of the chairperson shall be same as those of the Chief Justice of the High Court, while those of other members shall be same as those of a judge of the High Court.
5. There shall be a Secretary to the Lokayukta in the rank of Secretary to the state government who shall be appointed by the chairperson from a panel of names sent by the state government.
6. Besides, there shall be a Director of Inquiry and a Director of Prosecution not below the rank of Additional Secretary to the state government, appointed in a similar manner.
7. All other provisions concerning the structure, powers and functioning of the Lokayukta will be on pattern of the Lokpal as given in the proposed legislation.

Components of Redressal Mechanism – UPSC Notes:-Download PDF Here

Frequently Asked Questions about redressal mechanism

Q1

What are the instruments of redressal of grievances in India?

Various Instruments that are established as redressal mechanisms are:

• Establishment of grievance redressal machinery under citizens’ charter.
• Fixing time frames for grievance redressal.
• Establishment of an Institution of Ombudsman in the local level known as Lokpal and Lokayukta to oversee redressal of grievances.

Q2

What are the three types of grievances?

It is a tool to implement and enforce competition policy and to prevent and punish anti-competitive business practices by firms and unnecessary Government interference in the market. Competition laws is equally applicable on written as well as oral agreement, arrangements between the enterprises or persons.

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