Now,Chhattisgarh Lokayukta targets Raman govt over graft

In his report,which came days after Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde held the BJP government guilty of corruption in mining in his report,Bhadoo quotes Chanakya. Kautilya wrote it cannot be determined when a fish in the pond would consume water,similarly its difficult to tell when the government departments would devour money, he says in the report. Ab to sthiti yahan tak pahunch gayi hai ki talaab men machliyon ki sankhya anginat hai aur har machli adhik se adhik paani pine ko betaab hai . (The situation has reached a level where the number of fish in the pond has become infinite and each fish is dying to consume more and more water).

The 159-page report cites several instances in which action was delayed against a public servant found guilty in a Lokayukta inquiry. While the cases pertain to inquiry against junior officers as senior ones are out of the purview of the Lokayukta,the report does not spare top bureaucrats. Forget about acting against the guilty public servants in accordance with the recommendations of Lokayog,when the order reaches secretariat,officers in Mantralaya immediately contact the guilty officer and begin playing a new game to make the orders ineffective, it says.

It is an irony that recommendations of the Lokayog,whose chairperson is either the former Chief Justice or Justice of a High Court,are rejected by a secretary-level officer in secretariat,whereas such recommendations should be seriously considered and implemented.

When contacted,N Baijendra Kumar,spokesperson for the state government and principal secretary public relations,told The Indian Express: We are studying the report. We will certainly take action to ensure implementation of the Lokayukta recommendations according to the law.

The report says ideally the public servant against whom misconduct has been proved in the Lokayukta inquiry should be removed from that post,but it is also noticed that in many cases the public servant,against whom recommendations are made after misconduct was established,remains seated at the important post and dumps the recommendation into cold storage.

Citing the parent law of Madhya Pradesh from which the state Lokayog was carved out,Justice Bhadoo blames the state government for deleting the provisions of the original law and curtailing the powers of the Lokayukta as an investigative agency. He notes that the MP Act ensures that provisions of Indian Evidence Act and CrPC will be applicable in the inquiries conducted by the Lokayukta,but these have been deleted from the Chhattisgarh Act.

Similarly,while the Economic Offence Investigation department is under the MP Lokayukta,it has been detached from the Chhattisgarh Lokayukta due to which it cannot probe graft cases effectively,says Bhadoo.

In the dock

Lokayukta found Rajnandgaon Chief Medical Officer Dr RS Netam guilty of causing loss to the exchequer by buying useless equipment worth Rs 12 lakh and suggested registration of a criminal case against him. It is a matter of regret,that Netam has been again appointed for the post, says the Judge.

Former Mayor Bilaspur,Umashankar Jayaswal held guilty of misconduct in appointment of teachers and buying of computers. The Lokayog first recommended action against him in June 2009 and when no step was taken reminded the government again in March 2010.

Dr R C Bharma,Prabandh Sanchalak,Chhattisgarh Rajya Laghu Vanopaj Sangh guilty of making air trips without being authorized by the government.