No provision of advertising vacancies of Lokayukta: MP Govt

There is no provision in rules for advertising vacancies of Lokayukta and Deputy Lokayukta, Madhya Pradesh government has said.
Lokayukta Justice (retired) P P Naolekar is on one-year extension till June this year, and the post of Deputy Lokayukta is vacant for over two years. Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta is a statutory body mandated to enquire into corruption cases.
The Lokayukta has exclusive jurisdiction to enquire into complaints against the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Minister, Minister of State, Deputy Minister, Leader of Opposition and officers of the rank of Secretary, Additional Secretary and above. The Deputy or Up-Lokayukta is empowered to enquire into all other cases except those in which powers vest exclusively with the Lokayukta.

As per an official notesheet received in response to an RTI query filed by activist Ajay Dubey, as per Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta and UpLokayukta Rules, 1981, has no mention of publishing advertisement to fill these vacancies.
As per the rules, the Governor has been vested with power to appoint the Lokayukta in consultation with Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court and with approval from Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. For the appointment of Deputy Lokayukta, Lokayukta needs to be consulted, the notesheet says.
The move comes after Dubey wrote to government seeking a transparent procedure for appointment of Lokayukta and Deputy Lokayukta in the state.

"The state government has rejected any scope for further transparency in functioning of Lokayukta by declining to advertise these posts. The persons appointed to these two key posts will continue to function under the government's control if an open and more transparent system is not adopted. Already, there are lot of allegations of corruption against certain government employees and public servants," he claimed.
As per rules, only such person can be appointed as a Lokayukta who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice or Judge of any High Court in India.
Besides, there can be one or more Deputy Lokayukta, who can be a Judge of any High Court in the country or a person who has held any post under the central or state government carrying the scale of the pay, which is not less than that of an Additional Secretary to government of India. The tenure of both these functionaries is six years and reappointment is barred.