New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the chief secretaries of 11 states and one Union Territory to file compliance/status reports by July 10 the steps taken to appoint a Lokayukta and also specify the reason for the delay.
A Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R. Banumathi gave this direction after hearing counsel Gopal Shankaranarayanan, who appeared for petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyaya seeking a direction to the States to set up Lokayukta. On March 23 the court gave time and asked them to spell out reasons for delay.
The 12 states who were asked to file replies are: Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Delhi, Mizoram, Nagaland, Union Territory of Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Telengana and Tripura as they had not appointed a Lok Ayukta or Uplokayukta.
During the resumed hearing state after state filed brief affidavits and sought time to comply with the directions. Counsel for Tamil Nadu K.V. Vijayakumar submitted that the state was awaiting the Centre's decision on appointment of Lokpal to constitute Lokayukta in the state. After examining as to how the Lokpal functions, the state would take steps to appoint Lokayukta.
Justice Gogoi pulled up the state and pointed out that when Lokpal and Lokayukta are two different entities, why should Tamil Nadu wait for the appointment of Lokpal. Asking the state as to why it can't take an independent decision, Justice Gogoi told the counsel that Tamil Nadu should initiate steps towards appointment of Lokayukta from today itself. As a last chance, the court granted time to all the states to file compliance/status report on July 10.
He said that corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on society. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organized crime, terrorism, and other threats to human security to flourish. This evil phenomenon is found in all the States and its effects are most destructive.
Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining government's ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign aid and investment. He said corruption is key element in economic underperformance and major obstacle to poverty alleviation and development. India has been ranked 76th in Corruption Perception Index, 2015 of Transparency International. Now we have a new instrument, the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 to address this scourge at national and state level but the law has not been implemented.
He pointed out that state governments, which had set up Lokayukta, are deliberately weakening the Lokayukta by not providing adequate budget, infrastructure and work force.
