Why Punjab waiting for Lokpal despite AAP’s pre-poll promise to appoint one
Lokpal was one of the defining demands of the anti-corruption movement that led to the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In Punjab, where the party has been in power since 2022, that very institution has been vacant for almost a year.
Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma completed his term as Punjab Lokpal on October 8 last year. Nearly 12 months later, no successor has yet been appointed.
The prolonged vacancy is particularly striking for a party whose political origins lie in the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement and whose founder, Arvind Kejriwal, had made the Jan Lokpal one of his principal demands before entering electoral politics. The promise of a strong, independent anti-corruption ombudsman subsequently became part of AAP’s electoral pitch.
The institution remaining vacant is not for lack of names being considered. Soon after Justice Sharma’s retirement, sources said two names were under discussion — Justice Shabihul Hasnain, a former judge of the Allahabad High Court and then chairman of the Advisory Board on Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who was then due to retire. However, there was no consensus on either name and the matter remains pending.
Initially, the government appeared unconcerned about the delay. On October 22, when the post had been vacant for 14 days, an AAP spokesperson said, “It has not been 15 days yet,” and that a new Lokpal would be appointed soon.
The appointment, however, is not entirely in the state government’s hands. Under the Punjab Lokpal Act, the Governor appoints the Lokpal on the advice of the Chief Minister. The selection panel comprises the Chief Minister, the Speaker of the Assembly and a judicial member. Depending on the background of the proposed appointee, the judicial member is the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court or the Chief Justice of India.
The legal journey
The vacancy eventually reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In April, the court was informed that the process for appointing a new Lokpal had not even commenced. The court issued notice to the state on a PIL challenging the prolonged vacancy.
The matter returned before the High Court a month later, when the state said the appointment was still under consideration. Then Chief Justice Sheel Nagu asked, “That means you are encouraging corruption,” and the Bench warned that it could pass appropriate orders if the government’s response was not satisfactory. The court also noted that appointment of a Lokpal had been an election promise of the government. Ahead of the 2022 polls, the AAP in its manifesto had promised to make Punjab corruption-free by strengthening the Lokpal with a stronger Jan Lokpal Bill.
While AAP spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang said the process to appoint a Lokpal is on, an insider said the government had been unable to reach a consensus on Justice Sharma’s successor when Justice Nagu was Chief Justice. “Now, they are already in confrontation with Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra by having opposed his elevation,” the source said.
AAP-Lokpal history
The Lokpal issue is central to AAP’s political history. The party’s first government in Delhi in 2013 lasted only 49 days after Kejriwal, then CM, sought to introduce the Jan LokPal Bill. The move was opposed by a majority of lawmakers, including members of the BJP and Congress, which had supported the AAP in forming the government. With a majority of MLAs voting against the Bill’s introduction, Kejriwal cited the defeat as the reason for his resignation.
The issue has remained part of AAP’s political narrative. The Lokpal was again invoked prominently during the Delhi Assembly elections in February 2025. “Punjab was supposed to be one of the places where the AAP could demonstrate the difference between being an anti-corruption movement and being a government. The fact remains that the party that entered politics promising a Lokpal has a government in Punjab without one,” Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira said.
“Kejriwal was all over the place announcing there would be a Lokpal. In Delhi, they did not. In Punjab, where the office of Lokpal exists, the government has not been able to appoint anyone after the retirement of Justice Sharma. They could have empowered the institution by giving it some more teeth. However, they cannot even fill the post,” he added.
