INDIA’S OMBUDSMAN, THE SUPERHERO OF DEMOCRACY: ROLE AND PROPOSALS FOR REFORM
THE LAWWAY WITH LAWYERS JOURNAL VOLUME:-16 ISSUE NO:- 16 , OCTOBER 15, 2024 ISSN (ONLINE):- 2584-1106 Website: www.the lawway with lawyers.com Email: thelawwaywithelawyers@gmail.com Authored By :- Anindita Ghatak INDIA’S OMBUDSMAN, THE SUPERHERO OF DEMOCRACY: ROLE AND PROPOSALS FOR REFORM Abstract The issue of corruption has been across countries for a long time. India is also not immune from the problem of corruption. It is one of the obstacles in the way to achieve effective governance. A good administration is always responsible and responsive to people. The Institution of Ombudsman came to be established in several Democratic Countries like India for redressing the grievances of the public against administrative fault. The history of Ombudsman dates back to 1809, when Sweden established Ombudsman Office for the first time. After that many countries started establishing this institution, like- New Zealand, UK, USA Israel, Australia, India and so on. The Ombudsman stands as a guardian of individual rights, a promoter of governmental transparency and a watchdog of the administration. Therefore, the need for an institution like Ombudsman, at the national level as well the State level to fight against the corruption has been demanded. It is only in the second decade of 21st century that the legislation for establishing an Ombudsman in the form of Lokpal and Lokayukta came into effect. This Research paper tries to analyse about the importance of Ombudsman, the historical background of it, how this body was established for supervising the powers and control of the administrative bodies and restrict the misuse of powers by them. Being an Ombudsman has its powers and authorities to question, comment and ask on details of any cases regarding maladministration, it’s also dealing with the various institution of Ombudsman in the other countries and specially the mechanisms established in India and Lokpal as the anti-corruption ombudsman in India. But it is not performing as expected and there is some need for reforms to fulfil its true potential and ensure accountability in the administration. Keywords: Ombudsman, Administration, Lokpal, Lokayuktas Introduction Ombudsman is the part of the system of administrative law for scrutinising the work of the executive. His function is to safeguard the interest of the citizen by discovering the maladministration. The institution of Ombudsman was adopted by Scandinavian countries for the first time. Ombudsman is a superhero of democracy because it plays a vital role when it comes to dispute in administration. Ombudsman is the ‘Representative’ of public, because it plays a role as watchdog, looking at the working of administrative law. It is a machinery established in administrative law to handle the grievance sand to prevent the injustice by the executives against the citizens. In the democracy, the public come first, because they are the ultimate bearer of the sovereignty of a State and they decide in open and free election, who will be entrusted with the responsibility of the administration. So, the Ombudsman offices not only enhance the protection of individual citizen but they also contribute to efficient public administration. Ombudsman, like a court not only considers the individual case but also asks how same cases shall be treated by public authorities in future. The Ombudsman embodies the essence of democracy by acting as a check and balance on the executive authorities or governmental power. Their commitment to justice is ensuring the rights of the citizens are protected that the rule of law is upheld and the governmental agencies are held accountable for their action towards the citizen. Professor Larry B Hill has enumerated the various characteristics of a pure Ombudsman. Those are- established as separate entity that is functionally autonomous, operationally independent of both the legislature and the executive, a legally established governmental official, a monitoring specialist, have extensive resources to perform his mission, normative universalistic, popularly accessible-visible and so on. Professor Larry Hill has described about various objectives of the Ombudsman institution, like- to right individual wrongs, to make bureaucracy more humane, to introduce administrative reforms and to prevent abuses by acting as a bureaucratic watchdog. Therefore, in a nutshell, the duty of an Ombudsman to reduce the corruption of governmental agencies, maladministration in the sphere of administrative branch of the government in order to maintain the prosperity of the nation and for the effective functioning of the administrative wing of the government. If a citizen approaches to Ombudsman with a genuine complaint then it becomes the responsibility of the latter to take up the case for investigation without any making an expense on the complainant so that it works as an advantage of the citizen over the judicial proceedings, which cause a lot of delay in providing justice to the aggrieved person. Research Objectives: The intention of the researcher is to give an insight into the ‘India’s Ombudsman, The Superhero of Democracy: Role and Proposals for Reform’ to the readers, keeping in mind the legislative outlook for a better understanding of the research topic. It aims to bring the attention of the readers to the historical background of the Ombudsman to current position of Ombudsman in India with a special focus on the limitations and reforms of Ombudsman machinery in India. This research is also be an analysis based on the critical study of the topic. Therefore, the primary objectives of the research paper would be- To give an insight to the meaning, concepts and importance of Ombudsman as for redressing the grievances of the public against administrative fault. To understand the historical background of ombudsman and development in the institution of Ombudsman through a comparative study of various countries. To understand the current position of Ombudsman in India. To understand the various elements and organs involved in working of the Lokpal and Lokayukta with respect ton India. To understand the relationship between Ombudsman-Government-Citizen. To finding out the limitations of Ombudsman machinery in India and need for its reforms. Research Methodology: The research is non-empirical in nature. The research adopted the doctrinal method for pursuing this Study. For the depth of the study , it