The tender, which is not transferable, was floated to procure seven BMW 3 Series 330Li cars.
Several leaders from the Congress party, including former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Abhishek Singhvi, have slammed the Lokpal of India and dubbed the tender a “tragic irony”.
“When Honourable 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,” Chidambaram wrote on X.
Singhvi, who chaired the Parliamentary Committee on Lokpal, tweeted, “Dr. L.M. Singhvi first conceived idea of Lokpal in the early 1960s. To see this anti-corruption body now ordering BMWs for its members is tragic irony, the guardians of integrity chasing luxury over legitimacy.”
The veteran leader highlighted that the Lokpal has received 8,703 complaints, but these have led to only 24 probes and six prosecution sanctions.
“And now, BMWs worth ₹70 lakh each. If this is our anti-corruption watchdog, it’s more poodle than panther,” he added.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said that Lokpal’s annual budget is ₹44.32 crore, while the amount of its recent tender is approximately ₹5 crore. “This equals 10% of the ENTIRE ANNUAL BUDGET. Lokpal is supposedly an anti-corruption body. So who will probe the corrupt Lokpal?” he added.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “Gazab ka Jokepal at Indian taxpayers expense. Oh btw what happened to Swadesi call by GoI?”
Speaking to ANI, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh dubbed Lokpal as ‘Shokpal’ and ‘Shockpal’.
According to Bar and Bench, Section 7 of the Lokpal Act, 2013 mentions that members of Lokpal remain entitled to similar salaries and allowances as the judges of the Supreme Court.
It added that the Chief Justice of India and Supreme Court judges are ferried in BMW and Mercedes cars.
Former Supreme Court Justice AM Khanwilkar serves as the chairperson of the anti-corruption body. It comprises former Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice L Narayana Swamy, former Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Yadav and former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi. It also includes Sushil Chandra (ex-Chief Election Commissioner) and retired bureaucrats Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey.
