Goa Advocate General (AG) Atmaram Nadkarni has declined Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar’s request to head a panel to select a candidate for Goa Lokayukta.
Sources in the Government said that in Goa, every issue amounts to a controversy State AG has made it clear that he was not interested in courting any controversy over the selection of Lokayukta.
Since Goa Lokayukta Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy had quit from his post citing personal reasons on October 16, 2014, within seven months of his appointment Goa government has not appointed a Lokayukta despite civil society requests to do so.
According to the Lokayukta Act, which was amended by the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s government, the State should either have a retired Chief Justice of a High Court or a retired judge of the Supreme Court as its Lokayukta.
Already Goa RTI Forum has filed a public interest litigation in Bombay High Court at Goa pleading that the Court should direct Goa government to appoint not only Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioners but also Lokayukta and Upalokayukta.
Chief Minister recently told The Hindu that he would appoint Lokayukta before monsoons.
