Uttarakhand annuls 180 day limit for Lok Ayukta appointment of lokayukta

The efforts to fight corruption have received a setback in Uttarakhand after the state government issued an ordinance to scrap the mandatory 180 days limit for appointing the Lok Ayukta under the new Act.

Senior government officials said the government is likely to amend the Lok Ayukta Act to dilute some of its strong provisions. However, they did not give any details. However, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said the government has initiated the process to appoint the Lok Ayukta. "We have initiated the process to appoint the Lok Ayukta," said the chief minister in response to a question on whether the ordinance had been brought to delay the process of appointing Lok Ayukta.

Since the mandatory 180 day limit where the post of the Lok Ayukta should be filled under the new Lok Ayukta Act was lapsing on August 26, the government this week brought the ordinance to annul the limit, the chief minister said. However, he did not give any time frame for its appointment. Earlier, senior BJP leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri had lambasted the government for not appointing the Lok Ayukta claiming "the chief minister lacks the political will to fight corruption."

PARADIGM SHIFT

• Government likely to dilute the strong provisions of Lok Ayukta Act
• Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat says the government has started the process to appoint the Lok Ayukta
• The mandatory 180 day limit to fill the post of the Lok Ayukta under the new Lok Ayukta Act would lapse on August 26
• The government has  brought in the ordinance to annul the limit; though no timeframe was given for appointment

Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi early this year had given his assent to the new Lok Ayukta Act which was passed by the state assembly in January. But since then, the government did not make any efforts to find a suitable candidate for the Lok Ayukta. "On August 26, the mandatory 180 days to appoint the new Lok Ayukta under the Act will expire. But instead of appointing a new Lok Ayukta, the government brought the ordinance only to delay the process further," said Khanduri.

A special session in the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha in January had passed the new Lok Ayukta Bill which is based on the Lokpall Bill passed by the Parliament after repealing the Lok Ayukta Act enacted by the BJP government.

Under the new bill, the Lok Ayukta will be headed by a retired high court judge and will consist of five members. Among the five members, one will be woman and the other will be from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/minorities group. The post of the chief minister has been brought under the ambit of the Lok Ayukta.

Earlier, the government had stated the office of the new Lok Ayukta will start functioning in the next six months on the date of the passage of the bill in the Vidhan Sabha. However, officials said the implementation of the new bill can take longer.

President Pranab Mukherjee in September had given his assent to the Uttarakhand Lok Ayukta Act. But the government decided not to implement it describing it as "unconstitutional".