Three Goa legislators fail to file assets with Lokayukta

Three legislators, including two from the ruling BJP, are yet to file their assets before Goa Lokayukta, which was made mandatory by the ombudsman body that began functioning in the coastal state this year.
Vishnu Surya Wagh and Anant Shet, both BJP MLAs, and Congress legislator Chandrakant Kavlekar have not filed their assets before the Lokayukta, officials said today.
Kavlekar was mired in controversy after anti-corruption branch of police began investigation into his alleged disproportionate assets.
Lokayukta office told PTI that 37 out of 40 legislators have filed their assets till date.
The last date for filing the assets was August 1, 2013, by which 31 legislators had filed, while six others, including Carlose Almeida, Ramesh Tawadkar, Dr Pramod Sawant (all from BJP), Atanasio Monserratte and Jeniffer Monserratte (both from Congress) and Lavu Mamlatdar (Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party), filed their returns after the deadline.

Goa Lokayukta Justice (retd) B S Sudershan Reddy, who was on a month-long leave, would be joining office on Monday and after that any action in the matter would be decided.

However, officials said that the legislators have two months' time after the initial deadline to submit their assets. If they fail to file it, their cases would be referred to competent authorities, they said.
The Lokayukta is also not sure whether the assets submitted by the legislators can be made public under Right to Information (RTI) Act as their (legislators') consent is required for the same.
The Lokayukta had also asked the chairpersons and managing directors of various state-run or state-funded bodies and elected representatives at district and village level to submit details of personal assets.

But only four functionaries, a zilla panchayat member and all the elected members of Veling-Priol panchayat filed the details till August 1.
Officials said that three more functionaries, including Commissioner NRI Dr Wilfred Mesquita, Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education chairman Jose Rebello, and Economic Development Corporation vice chairman Santosh Kenkre, have filed their assets.