On 5 April 2011, Anna Hazare began a fast at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding a strong anti-corruption ombudsman, the Lokpal. The campaign, run by India Against Corruption, won a joint drafting committee within four days, then a resolution of both Houses of Parliament in August 2011 after Hazare's arrest and a 13-day fast at Ramlila Maidan. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was passed in December 2013, but the first Lokpal was appointed only in March 2019, and by October 2025 it had granted prosecution sanction in just seven cases.
Key takeaways
- Anna Hazare's April 2011 fast at Jantar Mantar ended after four days when the government notified a joint drafting committee of five ministers and five of his nominees.
- Police detained Hazare on 16 August 2011 before a planned fast; he was sent to Tihar, ordered released that night, and refused to leave until allowed to fast at Ramlila Maidan.
- On 27 August 2011 both Houses agreed "in principle" to his three demands, and he ended a 13-day fast the next morning.
- Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal split in September 2012 over entering politics; Kejriwal's group launched the Aam Aadmi Party on 26 November 2012.
- The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was passed in December 2013, the first Lokpal was appointed in March 2019, and by October 2025 it had granted prosecution sanction in seven cases.
Background: what the movement wanted
A Lokpal, an independent ombudsman to investigate corruption by public officials, had been debated for decades. When the Lok Sabha finally passed a Lokpal Bill in December 2011, PTI noted it was the ninth such bill since 1968 Governance Now/PTI.
A group called India Against Corruption, whose drafters included lawyer Prashant Bhushan, wrote its own "Jan Lokpal" (citizens' ombudsman) bill Governance Now. Its public face was Anna Hazare, a 73-year-old Gandhian activist from Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra. RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and lawyers Shanti and Prashant Bhushan were his closest aides.
The Jantar Mantar fast, April 2011
Hazare began an indefinite fast on 5 April 2011 Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament. His roadside tent near Jantar Mantar drew thousands, including film stars, academics and Delhi Metro architect E Sreedharan; yoga guru Ramdev was among those who joined Al Jazeera.
After talks with Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, on 8 April the government issued a gazette notification creating a Joint Drafting Committee, chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, with Shanti Bhushan as co-chair. The other ministers were P Chidambaram, Veerappa Moily, Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid; Hazare's side was Hazare, the two Bhushans, retired judge Santosh Hegde and Kejriwal Governance Now.
Hazare broke his fast on the morning of 9 April after 97 hours, by Governance Now's count; other reports say 98 hours. "If the government does not pass the Lokpal Bill, we'll be back with our struggle," he said Governance Now.
The drafting committee breaks down
By Pranab Mukherjee's later account, the committee met nine times. Of the 40 "basic principles" put forward by Hazare's team, the two sides agreed on 26 Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament.
The main disputes were whether one law should cover state Lokayuktas too, and whether the Prime Minister, higher judges and MPs' conduct in Parliament should be covered, and whether the Lokpal could discipline and dismiss civil servants. The committee ended on 21 June with each side handing over its own draft Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament.
Parties were wary. BJP president Nitin Gadkari wrote that asking parties to give views to a committee of civil society representatives "would be upsetting the constitutional propriety where parties, parliamentarians and the Parliament have the last word". The government's bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 4 August 2011; Hazare's team burnt copies of it, and Hazare announced a fast from 16 August if the Jan Lokpal Bill was not passed by 15 August Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament.
In June 2011, between the two fasts, police cleared a separate anti-corruption protest led by Ramdev from Ramlila Maidan. That episode is covered on its own page: the Ramdev Ramlila Maidan crackdown, June 2011.
The arrest of 16 August 2011
Delhi Police set 22 conditions; Hazare accepted 16 and refused six, so permission to fast at JP Park was withdrawn and prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in the area Deccan Herald. Home Minister P Chidambaram said the conditions included a three-day limit and no more than 5,000 participants AFP via The World.
At about 7.20 am on 16 August police detained Hazare, Kejriwal and others as they left a flat in Mayur Vihar, East Delhi. Supporters blocked the police vehicle for nearly an hour. Kiran Bedi and Shanti Bhushan were detained at Rajghat. At about 2 pm Hazare was produced before a special executive magistrate under Sections 107 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code, refused to sign a bond, and was sent to Tihar Jail for seven days Deccan Herald. In a pre-recorded message he called his arrest the start of a "second freedom struggle" Governance Now/PTI.
Deccan Herald estimated that about 5,000 supporters were arrested in Delhi that morning; AFP put the number at 1,300, with many held at a stadium Deccan Herald AFP via The World. Parties from the BJP to the CPI(M) condemned the arrest, and both Houses were adjourned. At about 9.30 pm a police warrant reached Tihar withdrawing the cases, but Hazare refused to leave unless he could fast on his own terms Deccan Herald.
Thirteen days at Ramlila Maidan
Hazare walked out of Tihar on 19 August after about 63 hours, by one count, having secured permission for a 15-day protest at Ramlila Maidan instead of JP Park. "We will not leave this ground till the Jan Lokpal Bill is brought," he told supporters Governance Now/PTI.
Negotiations ran through Pranab Mukherjee and Salman Khurshid. On 23 August the government offered to send the Jan Lokpal Bill to Parliament's Standing Committee with its own bill; Hazare's team wanted a written commitment to pass theirs that session, bypassing the committee. The government refused that demand on 24 August, and an all-party meeting the same day asked Hazare to end his fast Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament.
The "sense of the House", 27 August 2011
Hazare narrowed his conditions to three points in a letter to the Prime Minister. On Saturday 27 August, after more than eight hours of debate, both Houses agreed to them in principle The Tribune. The text read:
This House agrees in principle on the following issues: citizen charter, lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal through an appropriate mechanism, and establishment of the Lokayukta in the states; and further resolves to forward the proceedings of the House to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice.
"Sense of the House" resolution, as reported by The Tribune, 28 August 2011
The BJP's Sushma Swaraj said, "We support Anna's three demands" The Tribune. The resolution was not binding. On the morning of 28 August two girls, one Dalit and one Muslim, gave Hazare coconut water and honey at Ramlila Maidan. "The people's parliament is greater than Parliament in Delhi," he said, before going to a hospital in Gurgaon for observation The Tribune.
Timeline
Jantar Mantar fast
Fast ends after the drafting committee is notified Governance Now.
Hazare detained
Sent to Tihar; release ordered that night Deccan Herald.
Resolution, fast ends
Both Houses adopt the "sense of the House" The Tribune.
Bill stalls
Lok Sabha passes the bill; the Rajya Sabha adjourns without a vote Deccan Herald.
Lokpal Act passed
Assent follows on 1 January 2014 National Herald/IANS.
Both accounts
The movement's account
Hazare's side wanted an ombudsman independent of government that covered the Prime Minister, judges, MPs and the whole bureaucracy, and saw the government's bill as too weak. Kiran Bedi said of the 16 August arrest, "This has not been done by Delhi Police, somebody else is behind it" Governance Now/PTI. In December 2011 Kejriwal called the bill passed by the Lok Sabha "a very dangerous bill" Gulf News, and Hazare said, "the UPA government has betrayed us" Governance Now/PTI.
Government's account
Government's position The government said laws must be made by Parliament, not negotiated outside it. Manmohan Singh told Parliament on 17 August that Hazare had been held as a preventive measure, that peaceful protest was a right subject to "appropriate conditions", and that "Those who believe that their voice and their voice alone represents the will of 1.2 billion people should reflect deeply on that position" Governance Now/PTI. In December 2011 he warned against creating any body "inconsistent with our constitutional framework" and rejected bringing the CBI under the Lokpal Governance Now/PTI.
December 2011: the Lok Sabha vote and the Mumbai fast
On 27 December 2011 the Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 by voice vote after amendments that made state Lokayuktas subject to state consent and kept the armed forces out. A companion constitutional amendment to give the Lokpal constitutional status failed to get the required 273 votes after the SP, BSP and RJD walked out. Mukherjee called it "a sad day for democracy" Governance Now/PTI.
The same day Hazare began a three-day fast at the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai. He was running a fever, and Governance Now reported poor attendance for a second day. On 28 December he called off the fast and his planned "jail bharo" protest, saying, "Whatever we are seeing today in Parliament is tragic,", and said he would campaign against the Congress in five states. He denied that thin crowds were the reason Governance Now/PTI.
In the Rajya Sabha on 29 December, where the UPA lacked a majority and its ally the Trinamool Congress opposed the Lokayukta clause, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said about 187 amendments had been moved and the government needed time. Arun Jaitley accused the government of "running away" from a vote. Just after midnight Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the House sine die without a vote, saying there was "a total impasse" Deccan Herald The Tribune.
The split and the Aam Aadmi Party
Kejriwal and others began another fast at Jantar Mantar on 25 July 2012. On 3 August they ended it, and Kejriwal announced a political alternative; Hazare said he would neither join nor contest The Tribune. Days later Hazare wrote that Team Anna had been dissolved Governance Now.
On 19 September 2012 Hazare confirmed the separation. "I will not go with any political party or form any political party," he said, and asked that his name and photograph not be used in campaigns. An IAC online survey had found 76 percent of 737,041 respondents in favour of a party, but Hazare rejected it IANS via Ummid. Kejriwal's group named its party the Aam Aadmi Party on 24 November and launched it in Delhi on 26 November 2012 IANS via The Peninsula Christian Science Monitor.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013
Hazare began a fast in Ralegan Siddhi on 10 December 2013 IANS via The Peninsula. With the Samajwadi Party walking out, the Rajya Sabha passed the amended bill on 17 December and the Lok Sabha on 18 December; the President gave assent on 1 January 2014 National Herald/IANS Al Jazeera.
The law provides for a chairperson and up to eight members, covers the Prime Minister with conditions, ministers, MPs and central government employees, and requires states to set up Lokayuktas within a year. Manmohan Singh called it "a historic and landmark step". Hazare ended his nine-day fast, saying "The real work will begin now." AAP's Kumar Vishwas called it "a welcome bill for every corrupt politician" The Peninsula.
How the Lokpal has worked since 2019
No Lokpal was appointed for five years after the Act. In January 2019 Hazare announced another fast, accusing the Modi government of ignoring Parliament and the Supreme Court on the issue National Herald/IANS. On 19 March 2019 former Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose was appointed the first Lokpal LiveLaw, and the body began functioning on 27 March 2019 Business Standard/PTI.
The start was slow. Rules for filing complaints were notified only on 3 March 2020. Judicial member Dilip Bhosale resigned in January 2020, telling ThePrint, "I felt I was wasting my time." Of 1,427 complaints in 2019-20, 1,219 were dismissed as outside the Lokpal's jurisdiction ThePrint.
On 27 February 2024 President Droupadi Murmu appointed former Supreme Court judge A M Khanwilkar as chairperson, on the recommendation of a panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Deccan Herald Scroll. The inquiry wing the Act requires was constituted only on 5 September 2024 Business Standard/PTI.
In October 2025 The Hindu reported, using Lokpal data, that the body had received 6,955 complaints since it started, 90 percent of them in its first four years. Complaints fell from 2,469 in 2022-23 to 233 in 2025-26 up to September. It had ordered preliminary inquiries in 289 cases and granted prosecution sanction in seven The Wire, citing The Hindu.
Complaints received by the Lokpal, selected years
Where things stand, 2025-26
- Judges: On 20 February 2025 the Supreme Court, acting on its own motion, stayed a 27 January Lokpal ruling that High Court judges fell within its jurisdiction Verdictum.
- BMW tender: On 16 October 2025 the Lokpal sought bids for seven BMW 330Li cars worth about Rs 5 crore in all. After criticism, including Congress leader Jairam Ramesh calling it "Shauq Pal", it cancelled the tender by a corrigendum dated 16 December 2025 Orissa Post/PTI.
- Mahua Moitra case: On 12 November 2025 the Lokpal sanctioned a CBI chargesheet against Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra in the cash-for-query case. On 19 December 2025 the Delhi High Court set this aside, saying the Lokpal had misread the Act Scroll. On 13 March 2026 the Supreme Court stayed the High Court's direction to reconsider sanction and issued notice on the Lokpal's appeal Daily Excelsior.
Questions people ask
What was the Jan Lokpal Bill?
A draft anti-corruption law written by India Against Corruption, seeking an independent ombudsman covering the Prime Minister, judges, MPs and all officials. The government's bill was narrower, which led to the 2011 fasts.
Why was Anna Hazare arrested on 16 August 2011?
Police said he planned to defy prohibitory orders at JP Park after rejecting six of 22 conditions. He was held under preventive CrPC sections, sent to Tihar, and ordered released the same night.
What was the "sense of the House" resolution?
On 27 August 2011 both Houses agreed in principle to a citizen's charter, the lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal and state Lokayuktas. It was not a law, but it ended Hazare's 13-day fast.
How many cases has the Lokpal prosecuted?
By October 2025 it had granted prosecution sanction in seven cases and ordered 289 preliminary inquiries out of 6,955 complaints, according to The Hindu.
Sources
- Al Jazeera: Indian activist ends indefinite fast, 9 Apr 2011
- Governance Now: Anna Hazare tastes victory after 97 hours, 9 Apr 2011
- India TV: Full text of Pranab Mukherjee's speech on Lokpal issue, 27 Aug 2011
- Deccan Herald: Anna arrested, nation protests, 16 Aug 2011
- Governance Now/PTI: Hazare, aides arrested in morning crackdown ahead of fast, 16 Aug 2011
- AFP via The World: Mass arrests follow detention of Indian anti-graft activist, 16 Aug 2011
- Governance Now/PTI: PM's statement on Hazare in Parliament, 17 Aug 2011
- Governance Now/PTI: Will not budge till Jan Lokpal Bill is passed: Hazare, 19 Aug 2011
- The Tribune: Parliament agrees to Anna's three demands, 28 Aug 2011
- The Tribune: Anna ends fast, 29 Aug 2011
- Governance Now/PTI: Lokpal Bill passed, statute amendment bill defeated in LS, 27 Dec 2011
- Governance Now/PTI: Anna calls off protests, to campaign against Cong, 28 Dec 2011
- Gulf News: Anti-corruption activist ends Mumbai hunger strike, 29 Dec 2011
- Deccan Herald: Lokpal Bill hits RS roadblock, 29 Dec 2011
- The Tribune: Government retreats in Rajya Sabha on Lokpal, 30 Dec 2011
- The Tribune: Team Anna ends fast; takes political plunge, 4 Aug 2012
- Governance Now: Team Anna dissolves, Aug 2012
- IANS via Ummid: Anna, team stand 'separated', 19 Sept 2012
- IANS via The Peninsula: Kejriwal calls his new party Aam Aadmi, 25 Nov 2012
- Christian Science Monitor: A new party emerges in world's biggest democracy, 26 Nov 2012
- Al Jazeera: Indian MPs debate anti-graft bill, 17 Dec 2013
- The Peninsula: House passes bill to tackle corruption, 19 Dec 2013
- IANS via The Peninsula: Now country empowered to tackle graft: Hazare, 19 Dec 2013
- National Herald/IANS: Hazare announces fast over Lokpal delay, 21 Jan 2019
- LiveLaw: Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose appointed first Lokpal of India, 19 Mar 2019
- ThePrint: 3 years since launch, Lokpal is a non-starter, 2022
- Deccan Herald: Justice Khanwilkar appointed chairperson of Lokpal, 27 Feb 2024
- Scroll: Justice AM Khanwilkar is new Lokpal chairperson, Feb 2024
- Business Standard/PTI: Lokpal forms inquiry wing, 11 Sept 2024
- Verdictum: Supreme Court stays Lokpal's order claiming jurisdiction over High Court judges, 20 Feb 2025
- The Wire: Drastic decrease in complaints received by Lokpal (citing The Hindu), 26 Oct 2025
- Scroll: Mahua Moitra gets HC relief as Lokpal sanction set aside, 19 Dec 2025
- Orissa Post/PTI: Lokpal scraps controversial tender to buy seven BMW cars, 1 Jan 2026
- Daily Excelsior/PTI: SC stays Delhi HC order on sanction for CBI to try Moitra, 13 Mar 2026