Former BJP MLA Sat Prakash Rana has moved the High Court against Delhi government’s failure to appoint a Lokayukta for the past 18 months.
Mr Rana argued that the number of cases in the Lokayukta’s office were on the rise and hearings in several old cases were also pending but the Delhi government has not done anything to fill the vacant position.
The last Lokayukta, Justice Manmohan Sarin, had vacated the office on November 5, 2013 after the end of his five-year term. The seat is lying vacant since then.
“There were 56 cases in his court when the last Lokayukta vacated the office. The number of cases has now crossed 500. The staff at the office take complaints from people and tell them that the cases will only be taken up when a new Lokayukta will assume office,” Mr Rana said.
The petition is likely to be heard on Wednesday.
While the Aam Aadmi Party government is mulling to repeal the Lokayukta Act and replace it with Lokpal, which is likely to be tabled in the Assembly in June this year, Mr Rana opined that the new act is likely to take a lot of time.
“I am not against the Lokpal. But till the time the government has Lokpal in place, it can at least appoint a Lokayukta to take up the cases of corruption against bureaucrats and politicians. There is a 17-member strong office of the Lokayukta which has taken up a huge space in a government building and being paid salaries for almost no work,” Mr Rana said.
The government sources, however, argue that the Lokayukta is a toothless tiger and doesn’t have the power to enforce its orders.
“Number of cases in the Lokayukta’s office is rising and hearing in several old cases are also pending ”
