PIL for removal of UP's Lokayukta; SC issues notice to state

The Supreme Court today sought the response of Uttar Pradesh government on a plea seeking removal of state's Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra on various grounds including that it had iself in April last year ordered his replacement within six months.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and M Y Eqbal asked the state government to submit within four weeks its reply to the PIL filed by one Mahendra Kumar Jain.
The PIL said that the apex court, on April 24 last year, had upheld the constitutional validity of an amendment to the UP Lokayukta Act for fixing eight-year tenure for the anti- corruption ombudsman.

However, the court had asked the state government to take steps to select a new incumbent within six months to replace Justice N K Mehrotra (retd) as Lokayukta.
Justice Mehrotra was appointed as Lokayukta on March 16, 2006 for six years and later, the government granted him a two-year extension by amending the Act under which the tenure was extended to eight years or till a successor took over.
While upholding the constitutional validity of the amendment to the UP Lokayukta Act, the court had directed the state government to take steps to select a new ombudsman within six months.

The fresh plea has relied upon the previous SC judgement on the issue to seek the removal of the present Lokayukta.