Uttarakhand approves new lokayukta

Govt decides to convene three-day assembly session from Jan 13 to pass new bill

Despite criticism from the opposition, the Uttarakhand Cabinet on Thursday decided to bring a new lokayukta, on the lines of Lokpall Bill passed by the Parliament, to replace the Lokayukta Act passed by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

“We have decided to bring a new lokayukta Bill in Uttarakhand. This bill will be similar to the Lokpal Bill passed by the Parliament,” Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said after the Cabinet meeting.

The government has also decided to convene a three-day assembly session from January 13 to pass the new Bill and repeal the old one. Under the new draft bill, the lokayukta will be headed by a retired high court judge and will have five members. The post of the chief minister has been brought under the ambit of the lokayukta. One member of the lokayukta will be reserved for woman. One more member will be from the scheduled castes/tribes or the minority communities.

The office of the new lokayukta will start functioning within six months, the chief minister said.

The move came despite the government coming under attack from BJP’s prime ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi, as well as a section of senior ruling Congress leaders, including the speaker.

There were some anomalies in the Lokayukta Act enacted by the former BJP government, Bahuguna said.

Bahuguna also said the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), an alliance of independents and parties supporting the Congress-led coalition government in the state, had also given its consent for the implementation of the new lokayukta on the lines of the Centre’s Lokpal.

President Pranab Mukherjee in September had given his assent to the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act. But the government decided not to implement it describing the act as “unconstitutional”.