Why Lokpal Annual Reports Haven’t Been Tabled in Parliament for Three Years |
New Delhi: When former Supreme Court judge Justice A.M. Khanwilkar took charge as chairperson of India’s Lokpal in March 2024, he wanted to see a routine document mandated by law: the Lokpal’s annual report.
However, it was never found.
A rare note dated November 18, 2025 accessed by The Wire revealed that there was no file, draft or note to suggest that the Lokpal had prepared its annual report for 2022–23, despite a statutory obligation to submit one each year to the president and, through her, to parliament.
The note reads, “No record is available in the office with respect to preparation of Annual Report for the Year 2022-23, made by the previous body of the Lokpal.”
Khanwilkar moved to plug the gap. According to the note, within six months, the Lokpal finalised a consolidated annual report covering the two years 2022–23 and 2023–24. By October 2024, the watchdog was ready to formally present the document and sought an appointment with India’s President Droupadi Murmu.
This is a legally mandated step; Section 48 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 reads, “It shall be the duty of the Lokpal to present annually to the President a report on the work done by the Lokpal and on receipt of such report the President shall cause a copy thereof together with a memorandum explaining, in respect of the cases, if any, where the advice of the Lokpal was not accepted, the reason for such non-acceptance to be laid before each House of Parliament.”
But the appointment never came.
The note reveals that Lokpal officials wrote at least four formal letters seeking to meet the president in 2024 and 2025. The body also followed up with repeated phone calls to the president’s office, but no appointment was granted. The internal note states that the “appointment did not fructify because of her [the president’s] busy schedule”.
Meanwhile, the institution completed and printed its annual report for 2024–25. More reminders were sent in 2025. The last one, dated August 25, went unanswered.
President of India Droupadi Murmu. Photo: Rashtrapati Bhavan via PTI
A month later, the full bench of the Lokpal took a seemingly desperate step: it decided to send all three annual reports to the president by post, along with a formal covering letter. In this rare acknowledgement dated November 18, 2025, weeks before the winter session of parliament, the Lokpal has explained a three-year delay in fulfilling its statutory obligation, noting that no annual report has been presented to parliament since 2021-2022.
The note reads, “Since appointment for presentation of Annual Report for the Year 2022-23 and Year 2023-24 and also for the year 2024-25 did not materialize in spite of best possible efforts, it was decided by the Full Bench of Lokpal (Chairperson and six Members) to present both the Annual Reports (combined for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 and another for 2024-2025), with a forwarding letter........