Watchdog with variable powers

Johnson T A

Madhya Pradesh: MP is the other state where the Lokayukta is cited as a role model. In place since 1982,the institution that replaced the State Vigilance Commission has under its ambit the Chief Minister,ministers,Leader of the Opposition,and officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above,but not the Assembly Speaker,the Deputy Speaker and judicial officers. A Special Police Establishment works under the Lokayukta,headed by a DGP who is assisted by two IGs and an SP. Unlike in several other states,the Lokayukta and the deputy Lokayukta in MP are vested with powers under the Evidence Act and the Criminal Procedure Code for conducting enquiries. Once the Lokayukta recommends action,the state government has to reply within three months with an action-taken report. If he is not satisfied with the action,he can send a special report to the Governor.Milind Ghatwai

Bihar,Himachal pradesh: Nitish turns to Team Anna,Dhumal too wants changes

One state that will involve Anna Hazare in creating a strong Lokayukta institution is Bihar,with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar having already requested Team Anna to help draft amendments to the states Lokayukta Act of 1973. Nitish concedes that the Lokayukta is not effective enough.

Another state seeking to empower its Lokayukta is Himachal Pradesh. Its 1983 Act already covers the office of the Chief Minister both Virbhadra Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal have faced complaints and been acquitted but Dhumal still wants the present Lokayukta to suggest ways to give the institution more teeth.

Nitish Kumar made his request to Team Anna members in Delhi two months ago. He invited them to visit Bihar and Arvind Kejriwal arrived here last month. Even after taking charge,Nitish had volunteered that the Chief Minister be covered under the Lokayukta.

The present Act does cover ministers and public servants but the Chief Minister is out of its purview. The Lokayukta,as in most other states,can only make recommendations and even these are not binding on the government. In any case,old-timers do not recall the Lokayukta having recommended action against any minister or public servant since 1973.

Nitish said the state government would introduce an amendment bill in the winter session of the Assembly. By then,he hopes,Team Anna will have redrafted the Act.

I have long been in favour of an effective Lokayukta. We have requested Annas team to suggest ways to make it effective. As of now,I cannot comment on its proposed format but one thing is for sure,the CMs office must come under its purview, said Nitish,whose government has already launched a series of anti-corruption initiatives.

The irony of the current Act,says High Court lawyer Tuhin Shankar,is that it says more about what it cannot to do than about what it can. The Act says the Lokayukta shall not investigate any action in a matter where a formal and public inquiry has been ordered under the Public Servant Inquiries Act,1850,or in one referred for inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act,1952. The Lokayukta cannot take up any grievance if the complaint is made 12 months after the date on which the complainant got to know about the action he is complaining against.

The Bihar and Himachal Pradesh Lokayuktas both submit annual reports to the Governor. So far,no Lokayukta report in Himachal has included anything against a former or sitting Chief Minister or ministers in a state that is often described locally as relatively corruption-free.

Yet,Dhumal says,The government proposes to give more teeth to the Lokayukta. Now after Justice L S Panta takes charge,the government will request him for suggestions on amending the Lokayukta Act. Among the proposed changes are giving the Lokayukta the power to carry out a suo motu probe against public servants including the Chief Minister.

The Lokayukta report for 2010-11 disposed of a compliant about Dhumal’s disproportionate assets filed by a former IPS officer,B S Thind,who died some months ago.

Justice Panta was selected as Lokayukta following consultations between the government and Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes. He is expected to take charge next month.Santosh Singh & Ashwani Sharma

WEST BENGAL,ASSAM: One state has only a deputy in office,another not even that

West Bengal and Assam each has a Lokayukta Act but the former has kept the post vacant and the latter has appointed only a deputy.

West Bengal enacted its Act in 2003 but has been without a Lokayukta for two-and-a-half years. Last week,when The Indian Express asked Mamata Banerjee what she was going to do about this,she dismissed the question.

The Assam Lokayutka and Upa-Lokayukta Act was enacted in 1985 but the state has only an Upa-Lokayukta who has no power to register a case suo motu. The last Lokayukta retired 16 years ago.

In Kolkata,chief secretary Samar Ghosh had said two months ago that he had already placed the file for an appointment. Now,he refused to discuss any progress since.

The states Act gives the Lokyukta the power to take up allegations against the Chief Minister. He is appointed by a three-member committee comprising the Chief Minister,the Speaker and Leader of the Opposition. Suryakanta Mishra,Leader of the Opposition,said,We want a Lokyaukta and we are ready to discuss this with the government.

The first Lokayukta,Justice Samaresh Banerjee,was appointed in February 2006 and took over in July 2007. He retired in February 2009,with the post vacant since.

The office at Bhavani Bhavan has only three staff members: an officer-in-charge who is also special secretary in the home (personnel) department and two clerks. We have no work. We have received about 400 letters in the last two-and-a-half years and no one has opened them, said Suman Halder,one of the clerks.

In Guwahati,Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said last week he would take steps to strengthen the Lokayukta,but was waiting for the outcome of the Jan Lokpal standoff. I will also take steps to bring the Chief Minister under the ambit of the Lokayukta, he had said.

Assam has had two Lokayuktas,Justice Chandra Das from February 1989 to January 1994,and Justice R K Manisana Singh from February 1994 to March 1995. The present Upa-Lokayukta was appointed in April 2011.

The Lokayukta office was till recently located inside the state secretariat,a high-security area where a person has to obtain a security pass to enter. Recently,it was shifted to a rented house in the heart of the city. Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay & Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Gujarat: Before the appointment,a tussle over the role

The unilateral appointment of Gujarats Lokayukta marks the latest in a series of standoffs between the government and Governor Kamala Beniwal,84,in a state where Chief Minister Narendra Modi was so far used to having his way.

Since she took over in 2009,the Governor has sent back several schemes the government wanted to pass off as legislations. Among these were bills that sought to modify the ambit of the Lokayukta,and the way he is to be appointed. After she appointed Justice R A Mehta,the government spokesperson has alleged that Raj Bhavan has become Congress Bhavan.

Beniwal invoked the Gujarat Lokayukta Acts Section 3,bypassing the government which later challenged in the High Court her powers to do so. The High Court is scheduled to hear the case on Monday.

Beniwal said she was left with little choice as the Modi government had failed to appoint a Lokayukta despite several reminders by her office and representations she had got. She has also refused to sign an ordinance prepared by the Modi government to amend the Lokayukta Act,clipping the Gujarat Chief Justices powers to recommendation an appointment. Justice Mehtas nomination was indeed recommended by the Chief Justice.

The last time the Governor took on the state was when she returned the Regularisation of Illegal Properties Act,under which such properties can be regularised by paying an impact fee. She questioned why illegal constructions are allowed and how the preventive mechanism is operating. The six BJP-ruled municipal corporations (out of eight) have since passed resolutions urging the Governor to reconsider.

She has also refused assent to a bill that sought to incorporate both compulsory voting and 50 per cent womens reservation,another on private universities,and a proposed amendment in the Lokayukta Act to widen its ambit to include local bodies office-bearers. She remarked that increasing the Lokayuktas scope of work would hinder the basis purpose the act of keeping an eye on authorities like the Chief Minister.

She has also rejected an ordinance to amend the Lokayukta Act to do away with the role of the Chief Justice,the Governor and the Leader of Opposition in such appointments and to make this the sole prerogative of a committee headed by the CM.

Beniwal,who hails from Rajashthan,served as Tripura Governor before taking over in Gujarat. She insists on being addressed by her first name as the surname is indicative of caste. The freedom struggle is part of her background. Wife of Late Ramchandra Beniwal,she is the daughter of Netram Singh,a freedom fighter from erstwhile Jaipur State.

Born on January,12,1927 in Gorir village of Jhujnjhunu district,she has an MA in history from Maharaja College. She has been Rajasthans first woman minister,having taken oath at age 27,and has been a minister in several Congress governments since 1954.KAPIL DAVE

Mixed Bag

Maharashtra

Anna Hazares home state was the first to introduce a Lokayukta in 1971 but is struggling in the absence of an independent investigating agency. A report by the Lokayukta cites other states such as Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh,which have such an agency. The report points out that the Lokayuktas powers are restricted; it receives complaints against employees of local authorities but these could not be entertained. MoS for General Administration Fauzia Khan said the government plans to empower the Lokayukta.

Dhaval Kulkarni

Uttar Pradesh

The Lokayuktas report in the anti-corruption season has led to the resignation of minister Awadh Pal Singh Yadav. But the Lokayukta still cannot entertain a complaint against the Chief Minister,has no investigation wing,and cannot take suo motu cognisance of corruption by public servants. If the government does not take action on his recommendations,the Lokayukta can only send a report to the Governor. The Lokayukta can recommend the removal of someone it has found corrupt,which Lokayukta N K Mehrotra did in Awadhs case.

Ramendra Singh

Orissa

As far as Acts go,the Orissa Lokpal and Lokayukta Act,enacted in 1970,is the countrys oldest but the institution was established only in 1982. It provides for both a Lokayukta and a Lokpal but the Lokpal has so far been discharging the functions of both. The state vigilance department does not report to him,and he has no investigation wing,but he can ask the government to entrust the department or an official to help him in a probe. The CMs office comes under the ambit of the Lokpal but the latter remains a recommending institution. Lokpal P K Patra in March 2010 recommended a probe into the Vedanta University land deal and the role of various bureaucrats in the land acquisition process; the government has not started one.

Debabrata Mohanty

Kerala

The Lokayukta can look into complaints against the Chief Minister and has its own police wing headed by an officer of IGP rank. However,it can only recommend action. The institution comprises a Lokayukta and two Upa-Lokayuktas. We seek an action-taken report from the government. Generally,all recommendations get executed. says Lokayukta K Jaladharan. During the 2001-06 regime,a Congress minister had to resign following the Lokayuktas observations on a complaint relating to appointments.

Shaju Philip

Jharkhand

Chief Minister Arjun Munda has promised an amendment to bring the CM under the Lokayuktas ambit. A former secretary in the Lokayukta office says it is a toothless body dependent on the CM who plays a key role in the appointment. Among the complaints the Lokayukta has registered,one is against former chief secretary P P Sharma,but not one case has been disposed of till now,which the office attributes to lack of infrastructure.

Manoj Prasad

Punjab

In the last five years,the Lokpal has decided 203 cases but no action has been taken on its recommendations. The state vigilance bureau does not report to it; its investigating wing is restricted to one IGP-ranked officer. We decide cases and send them to the Governor,who then sends them to the government. We dont know the fate of the recommendations, said Lokpal D S Dhaliwal.

Harpreet Bajwa