A petition has been filed before the High Court challenging the appointment of IAS officer P C Jaffer as Lokayukta registrar.
The State government appointed the registrar by a notification dated August 6, 2015, “without considering the recommendation of the High Court and without taking the concurrence of the Lokayukta”, the petitioner, Ananda Murthy, an advocate, has argued. He contended that the appointment is contrary to the aims and objectives of article 50 of the Constitution of India, and the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the Lokayukta Act, 1984.
The petitioner has questioned the integrity of the appointed registrar having regard to complaints and allegations registered and closed in the years 2014 and 2015, and demanded that the appointment be quashed for being “illegal, unconstitutional and non est in law”. A division bench will hear the petition on Tuesday.
Convicts jumping parole
The High Court has summoned ADGP (Prisons) and ordered him to file an affidavit about the efforts taken to bring back convicts who have jumped parole.
Thirty-six out of the 45 prisoners who were convicted of heinous crimes and granted parole since 2007 are yet to return to jail. Hearing a suo motu criminal petition, a division bench of Justices Mohan M Shanta- nagoudar and R B Budihal directed the ADGP to take action against persons who had given surety for grant of parole to these convicts.
The bench observed that the efforts taken to bring back the convicts on parole were not satisfactory. As per the latest data, just two out of the 36 convicts who jumped parole had been arrested and one had died. The rest are absconding. The matter was adjourned to September 7.