Supreme Court to hear plea for appointment of Ombudsman at Centre, states

The Supreme Court will hear on September 14 a fresh plea seeking appointment of Lokpal and Lokayuktas at the Centre and in states as provided for in the central legislation passed in 2013.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and P C Pant has put up for hearing the PIL which also seeks a direction to all the states to provide adequate budgetary allocation and essential infrastructure for effective functioning of Lokayuktas.

The PIL filed by advocate and Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay alleged that though the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, received Presidential assent on January 1, 2014, and came into force from January 16, 2014, the executive has not established the Lokpal.

"Section 63 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, envisages that every State shall establish a body to be known as the Lokayukta within a period of one year from the date of commencement of the Act, however, many States have not done so till date. And many States have not passed the Lokayukta Act in consonance with the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013," the plea said.

According to the petitioner, many state governments are deliberately weakening the Lokayukta by not providing adequate infrastructure, sufficient budget and workforce.

"Issue a writ or direction directing the Respondent 3 to 33, to establish an independent Lokayukta in spirit of Section 63 of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 expeditiously and provide adequate budget, infrastructure and manpower, essential for effective functioning of the Lokayukta," the plea said.