Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Opposition leaders on Wednesday criticised the anti-graft ombudsman Lokpal after it floated a tender to procure seven BMW cars worth around Rs 5 crore, calling the move extravagant and ironic for an institution tasked with upholding integrity.
The Congress said the Lokpal has become more of a "shock pal" and "shauq pal" than an anti-corruption watchdog.
“Lokpal has ceased to be Lokpal and is more of a 'shock pal,' 'shok (mourn) pal' and 'shauq (indulgence) pal',” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
Ramesh also highlighted a contrast with earlier anti-corruption movements, saying, “There was a false narrative created against the Manmohan Singh government with Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, 'India Against Corruption', and the RSS indulging in propaganda, and now the reality of the Lokpal is before the people.”
He added, “It needs to be asked what investigations has the Lokpal carried out and whose arrests they have succeeded in.”
Senior Congress leader and former home minister P. Chidambaram questioned the necessity of luxury cars for Lokpal members: “When judges of the Supreme Court are provided modest sedans, why do the chairman and six members of the Lokpal require BMW cars? Why spend public money to acquire these cars? I hope that at least one or two members of the Lokpal have refused, or will refuse, to accept these cars.”
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, former Congress member of the Parliamentary Committee on Lokpal, highlighted the lack of probes and sanctions as against the number of complaints the Lokpal received: “I chaired the Parliamentary Committee on Lokpal. To see this anti-corruption body now ordering BMWs for its members is tragic irony, the guardians of integrity chasing luxury over legitimacy.” He added, “8,703 complaints. Only 24 probes. 6 prosecution sanctions. And now, BMWs worth Rs 70 lakh each. If this is our anti-corruption watchdog, it's more poodle than panther!”
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale asked who will probe the “corrupt” Lokpal. slammed the move on X, noting, “Lokpal's luxury. Annual budget of India's Lokpal is Rs 44.32 crore. Now, Lokpal is purchasing 7 luxury BMW cars at approx Rs 5 crores for all members. This equals 10 per cent of the entire annual budget. Lokpal is supposedly an anti-corruption body. So who will probe the corrupt Lokpal?”
According to the tender floated on October 16, the procurement involves seven BMW 3 Series 330Li ‘M Sport’ long-wheelbase sedans in white, each costing approximately Rs 69.5 lakh in Delhi. The vehicles are intended for the Lokpal chairman Justice A.M. Khanwilkar (retd) and six other members of the eight-member sanctioned strength.
With no significant convictions in its six-year history, the Lokpal’s tender has been slammed by activists as a blatant show of extravagance
Legal activist Prashant Bhushan, a key member of the Lokpal movement in 2010-11, posted on X: “The institution of Lokpal has been ground to dust by the Modi govt, by keeping it vacant for many years & then appointing servile members who are not bothered by graft & are happy with their luxuries.”
Former CBI director M. Nageswara Rao called the 2013 Act “a flawed law that established the Lokpal as a redundant ombudsman”.
He said in an X post: “Having known Arun Jaitley Ji for nearly two decades, I received a call from him in December 2018 or January 2019 (when I was Director, CBI) to discuss forming the Lokpal and potential candidates. I argued that the Lokpal was unnecessary due to the existing Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), emphasising that it would only waste public resources and merely provide lucrative post-retirement positions for retired judges and bureaucrats.
“Instead, I proposed strengthening institutions like the CVC and CBI for greater effectiveness, rather than creating another redundant body. I suggested repealing the Lokpal Act, 2013, via an Ordinance or, alternatively, abolishing the CVC by repealing its Act, given their overlapping functions. Jaitley explained that repealing either act before the elections was politically unfeasible.”
Jaitley was the finance minister at that time.
Former NITI Aayog chairman Amitabh Kant gave a swadeshi spin to the controversy . “They need to cancel this tender and go in for @makeinindia Electric Vehicles — either Mahindra’s XEV 9E, BE 6 or Tata’s Harrier EV. They are top-class vehicles,” he posted on X.
The tender also requires the vendor to conduct a seven-day practical and theoretical training programme for the Lokpal drivers and designated staff, covering “familiarisation with all controls, features and safety systems,” “emergency handling,” and a minimum of 50 to 100 kilometres of on-road practice for each driver. The cost of this training is to be borne exclusively by the vendor.
Bidders must submit proposals by November 6 with an earnest money deposit of Rs 10 lakh, and delivery of vehicles is sought within two to 30 days from the supply order date.
