Opinion Monitor repair
How the office of Lokayukta has been undermined by state governments....
Justice Santosh Hegde (retd) may have decided to continue as Lokayukta of Karnataka after resigning in a huff a couple of weeks back over interference by the BJP government in the state,but his latest move has not put an end to the debate over the lack of real authority that the office of Lokayukta or Lok Pal,as it is called in some north Indian states,enjoys.
His recent actions have also once again brought into focus the apparent lack of commitment by the Central government despite repeated assertions in the last almost five decades,starting with the first Lokpal Bill in 1968,the Centre is yet to have a Lokayukta and the state governments to have a truly empowered ombudsman against corruption
in high offices.
There have been many instances of a Lokayukta being eased out or,in some cases,removed arbitrarily after a change in government in the state. Instances of recommendations for action against ministers,MLAs and officers by many Lokayuktas been simply ignored are aplenty.
Consider this: Haryanas first Lokayukta was Justice I.P. Vashisht (retd),who resigned as judge of the Allahabad high court to take up the offer made by then state government headed by Bansi Lal in 1997. However,less than eight months into the job,he was shunted out by the next government headed by Om Prakash Chautala through an ordinance. Through the ordinance,the Chautala government simply repealed the Lokayukta Act on the plea that his government intended to provide more powers to the Lokayukta!
Vashisht later moved the Punjab and Haryana high court,seeking payment of salary and perks due to him for the entire tenure. The high court agreed with his contention and directed the Haryana government to pay all outstanding dues to him.
Almost similar is the case of Justice S.K. Ray (retd),who had been appointed as Lokpal of Orissa in 1989 for five years but was asked to go home after the Lokpal Act was abolished 1992. Taking up his case,the Supreme Court ruled that if the post of Lokpal was abolished without allowing the incumbent to complete his tenure,he must be compensated for the loss of salary for the remaining period of his tenure.
Late Justice D.V. Sehgal,who was the Punjab Lokpal,had recommended registration of cases against four ministers in Congress government headed by Beant Singh for corruption. However,till date no action has been initiated against the Congressmen.
The present Lokayukta of Haryana,Justice N.K. Sud (retd) has written several times to the state government highlighting the lack of response from departments to reports against officials.
In a report sent to the state government,Sud wrote,departments were unnecessarily dragging their feet in taking action against the delinquent officials. As a result of this delay many delinquent officials attain the age of superannuation and proceedings are dropped against them on the ground that they have already retired.
Critics of the institution of Lokayukta maintain that under the current system,the state governments ensure that the person occupying the post is usually close to the government of the day. While this may not be true for all cases Justice Hegde,incidentally,is an appointee of the previous H.D. Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-BJP government there have been allegations against some Lokayukta that while they investigated cases against leaders of the opposition with a vengeance,they tended to go slow if the complaint was against a leader of the party that had appointed him to the post.
When an earlier Punjab government headed by Parkash Singh Badal appointed Justice H.S. Rai as Lokpal in 1997,the Punjab and Haryana High Court stepped in,ordering his removal from the post. One of the allegations against Rai was that he was close to the Badal family.
Apart from the fact that it has only recommendatory powers,another important reason why the office of Lokayukta has remained a non-starter in most states is that the state governments decide to sit on the recommendations and not initiate any follow up action. While our political parties rarely see anything in the same light,when it comes to the need to have a Lokpal at the Centre,they easily find common ground and ensure that any such move is scuttled in the early stages.
In the aftermath of the Hegde episode,while the Karnataka government has announced that the Lokayukta would be given more powers,the onus,really,is on the Central government to show the way forward by fine-tuning the Lokpal Bill and introducing it in the Parliament at the earliest.
maneesh.chibber@expressindia.com
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