MANU/SC/0437/1999

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Review Petition (Civil) No. 98 of 1997 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 26 of 1995.

Decided On: 03.08.1999

Appellants: Common Cause, A Registered Society Vs. Respondent: Union of India (UOI) and Ors.

Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
Saiyed Saghir Ahmad, K. Venkataswami and S. Rajendra Babu

ORDER

Saiyed Saghir Ahmad, J.

1. This is a Review Petition in Whit Petition No. 26 of 1995 which was filed by Mr. H.D. Shourie for the following reliefs:

(i) Pass an appropriate writ, order or orders directing the Respondents 1 to 3 to specifically declare as to when the Union of India will now bring before the Parliament an appropriately drafted Bill for enactment of legislation for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal, or a suitable alternative system of the nature of Ombudsman which is operating in a number of other countries, for checking and controlling corruption in public offices, inter alia, at the political and bureaucratic levels, and whether in the enactment of such legislation they will take in to consideration the suggestions that have emanated from the Colloquium recently organised under the auspices of Indian Institute of Public Administration with the participation of foreign and Indian experts for examining various aspects of the matter relating to establishment of Ombudsman institution in this country;

(ii) Pass an appropriate writ, order or orders directing that the institutions and organisations of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Chief Vigilance Commissioner, and the Central Bureau of Investigation should indicate to the Hon'ble Court the specific steps which they will take for effectively overcoming any inadequacies and weaknesses in the operations of these important institutions which presently hamper effective and efficacious check on prevalence of corrupt practices in the country and to curb corruption at all political and bureaucratic levels;

(iii) Pass an appropriate writ, order or orders appointing a Commission or Commissioner to urgently undertake comprehensive study of the present inadequacies in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 for making specific recommendations to strengthen this enactment for achieving the objective of curbing and checking corruption at the political and bureaucratic levels in the country.

(iv) Pass an appropriate writ, order or orders directing the State Governments Respondents to indicate to the Hon'ble Court as to when they propose implementing the specific suggestions which have been made for strengthening and improvement of the functioning of the system of Lokayukta, including inter alia, the following:

a) To ensure expeditious establishment of the " institution of Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta in every State;

b) To achieve uniformity in the provisions of various Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Acts; and

c) To confer constitutional status on the institution of Lokayukta.

2. The petition was taken up by this Court on 10-2-1995 when the following order was passed:

After hearing Mr. Shourie, appearing in-per- son, we give him liberty to amend the petition by making broad base on the subject of curbing corruption in the country. T........