Fight against corruption menace is not going to ease in near future as there is no headway from the Government to appoint a new lokayukta in the State. Information coming out suggests that the very idea to fill the post of the ombudsman has not been initiated at the top level; leave alone kick starting the tedious consultation process.
When contacted, officials of the Chief Minister Office as well as of the Personnel Department played ignorance about any such follow up action after the all important post fell vacant early this year. “As of now there is no progress on this front. No consultation process has been started yet,” said a top official in the CMO.
Similar response came from the Personnel Department when the officer dealing with matters related to lokayukta said that there was no such file in movement. “We have not got any intimation in this regard from above. No such proposal is before us,” said an official.
Appointment of the lokayukta involves besides, the Chief Minister, the leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of the High Court in the search committee. The process is considered tedious and time taking in the light of the difficulty in bringing the all on the same page.
Justice (Retd) Amreshwar Sahay after completing his term of five years relinquished the coveted post on January 2, 2016. Moreover, his retirement came as a final jolt to the anti-corruption institution which was already been working without a Secretary since September, 2015 when Deepak Kumar was moved away from there.
“At present, the lokayukta office is virtually dead and headless. Cases are piling up with every passing day. More worrying is the fact that several graft cases and also related to important public interests were at crucial stages of hearing. All such cases are standstill since the probe and hearings on complaints have stopped,” said an official of the lokayukta office.
latest input says that as many as 950 old and new cases are pending at different stages before the ombudsmen presently. The number is growing with every passing day as about 50 new complaints come before the office for investigation every month. “We have cases of serious nature. Even today new complaints keep coming. In normal procedure the complaints are investigated and then hearings start. All such action has been stopped due to the situation prevailing,” added he.
Sources in the office revealed that about five cases of disproportionate asset related to Government officials are under investigation and final hearings were to commence after the initial probe has taken place, show-cause issued, information collected and reply filled.
“Besides, a remarkable case of encroachment taking place on the land of distillery pond in Ranchi was also there which was initiated by the erstwhile lokayukta himself. He was taking report in every two months on that. All that would be perished,” said the official.
The Opposition, on the other hand, is fearing for the Uttar Pradesh like situation in Jharkhand as well where the stalemate among the parties involved in the selection of a new lokayukta there has forced there Supreme Court to intervene.
“The Government is least interested in filling posts of importance. Even the previous lokayuktas were not made powerful enough despite their continuously yelling for an independent investigation wing,” said JVM legislator Pradeep Yadav.