New Delhi: Supreme Court today asked 12 states about the status of the appointment of Lokyukta in the states.
The bench headed by Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R Banumathi was hearing a PIL filed by Advocate and Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Kumar who said though he received the presidential assent on January 1, 2014 and came into force from January 16, 2014, and so far the executive has not yet established Lokpal yet.
The bench asked the Chief Secretaries of the 12 states to specify the reason of delayed appointment of Lokyukta’s in the following states Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and West Bengal along with asking Odisha Chief Secretary to apprise the Court on the Lokyukta status Odisha state and also on whether or not the state has an anti-corruption ombudsman.
According to Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, Section 63 it is mandated on every state to establish Lokayukta.
According to the petitioner, who also sought directions to states to provide adequate budget and infrastructure for functioning of Lokyuktas, many state governments are “deliberately weakening” the Lokayukta by not providing them adequate budget and proper infrastructure, News18 reported.