New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Chief Secretaries of 12 states to explain within two weeks 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.
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 Lokayukta or Uplokayukta.
BJP advocate and social activist Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in his PIL sought a direction for the appointment of an independent Lokapal at Centre and equally effective Lokayukta in all the states in the spirit of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Acts 2013, which is necessary to curb the corruption.
