The BJP government in Odisha is set to amend the Odisha Lokayukta Act, 2014, before appointing the chairperson and members of the anti-corruption watchdog, which have been lying vacant for more than a year.
Officials said the amendments will be made in relation to the selection committee for the appointment of the chairperson and members of the Lokayukta.
According to the 2014 Act, the chairperson and members are appointed by the Governor following the recommendation of a five-member selection committee headed by the Chief Minister as chairperson. The selection committee includes the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court or a judge of the said High Court nominated by the Chief Justice as member, and one eminent jurist as recommended by the chairperson and members.
The existing law provides that the selection committee will form a search committee consisting of at least five persons having special knowledge and expertise in matters relating to public administration, finance including insurance and banking, law and anti-corruption policy.
As PILs over the delay in filling vacancies following the retirement of the chairperson on March 19 and members by August 8, 2024, are sub judice in the Orissa High Court, the state’s Advocate General, Pitamber Acharya, on Tuesday informed the court about discrepancies and anomalies in the 2014 law related to the selection committee of the Lokayukta.
The Orissa High Court has granted six weeks’ time to the state government to appoint the chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman.
In February 2014, Odisha became the country’s first state to enact a law for the establishment of a Lokayukta to probe graft charges against public functionaries, including the chief minister, other ministers, MLAs and heads of civic bodies and panchayati raj institutions. It took five years for the previous BJD government to appoint Justice Ajit Singh, former chief justice of the Gauhati High Court, as the chairperson of the anti-corruption body.
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Following the completion of the five-year tenure of Singh and other members, the Lokayukta has been lying defunct, impacting the adjudication of corruption-related complaints.
