At a simple but impressive interactive session supported by district legal services authority lokayukta justice D N Upadhyay urged the people to join the crusade against corruption and lodge genuine and legitimate complaint against public servants who are indulged in corruption.
Justice Upadhayay was flanked by principal district and sessions judge Palamu Vijay Kumar and secretary DlSA Prafulla Kumar. Women para legal volunteers outshone the male counterparts. There was no riot of speeches but simple and precise introduction about drive against corruption .
The lokayukta said that no complaint against public servant be malicious in nature nor it should be born out of any personal grudge or rancor but should be based on facts and evidences. Narrating one episode he said there came a complainant to his office in Ranchi with a request that he is not interested in pursuing his complaint against a mining owner/ company as he is facing twin cases of extortion and the mining owner/ company has assured to reach a settlement with him and will withdraw the two cases if he so withdraws his case from lokayukta.
The lokayukta said they told this man that he could not ask us to drop the case as it is on but they helped the man by asking senior police officer to look into his later complaint in which he was made to face two cases by those whom he had accused earlier of corruption. This man got due relief added the lokayukta.
Villagers outnumbered urban people and the villagers put queries to lokayukta. In one such instance a woman took the mike and ran into tears describing how police have tortured her and her son to which secretary to lokayukta Sanjay Kumar asked this lady to give a written complaint.
As it was the interactive session the lokayukta had waived the mandatory filing of affidavit and court fee of 4.70 paisa! There came about a dozen complaints in this interactive session of lokayukta.
Giving new tasks lokayukta asked para legal volunteers to be pro active in drive against corruption. He in the same vein urged journalists to send their complaints with which they so build up their news stories to lokayukta office for its further cognizance and action. A newsman pointed to him that lokayukta should take suo motto note of newspapers’ clippings to which Justice Upadhayay said he did take cognizance on the basis of news papers’ clippings.
The 1973 lokayukta act is too fragile and needs more teeth he opined saying we have adopted what bihar has done but we need to give it more force and power. Making things clear he said no complaint against public servant be entertained if the same has been in any court of law or court has disposed it off .
A public servant cannot go against a public servant but if the aggrieved public servant becomes an individual and then lodges the complaint with lokayukta then it will be taken care of said PDJ Palamu Vijay Kumar.