The Aam Aadmi Party government has almost completed drafting the Jan Lokayukta Bill and will table it in the next Assembly session. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that his government will soon fulfil one of biggest promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party before the Delhi Assembly elections.
“Jan Lokayukta Bill almost ready. We shud be able to present it in next session of assembly [sic],” Mr Kejriwal tweeted. The government was planning to table the Bill in the Budget Session earlier this year, but the work on it was not completed then.
Mr. Kejriwal had quit during his first term as Delhi Chief Minister in February 2014 after his push for the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill was blocked in the Assembly.
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The party had in its manifesto promised to pass a ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’, but now it has been changed to ‘Jan Lokayukta Bill’ as Delhi already has Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act. A party member said that Lokpal is for the Centre and Lokayukta is for the States. All public officials, including the Chief Minister other Ministers and MLAs, would fall within its purview.
The draft is largely based on the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill. “It differs in some regards. The inclusion of the Chief Minister’s office in the purview of the proposed law is one major difference and also the quantum of punishment,” the official added.
Though Delhi has the provision for a Lokayukta, the AAP government said it does not have enough powers to prosecute anyone. Interestingly, even that post is lying vacant for almost two years now. The AAP government had sent a list of five former judges to the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court for the post of Lokayukta. The government had told the High Court in July that it has initiated the process to appoint Lokayukta, a post which has remained vacant since November 2013 after a BJP leader, Sat Prakash Rana, filed a petition for the appointment of Lokayukta.
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As per the provision of the existing Delhi Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act, only a Chief Justice or a High Court judge having seven years of experience are eligible for the Lokayukta post.
The draft of the bill, which was among the AAP govt’s poll promises, is based largely on the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill