Plea in SC seeks direction for setting up Lokpal

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to set up expeditiously an autonomous Lokpal in spirit of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013.

The plea also seeks to provide adequate budget, infrastructure and manpower, essential for the Lokpal’s effective functioning.

The petitioner also sought simultaneous directions to all the states to establish independent Lokayuktas with all the requisite facilities.

“The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, received assent from the president on January 1, 2014, and came into force from January 16, 2014, but the executive has not established the body to be called the ‘Lokpal’ in spirit of Section 3 of the Act. Though it is essential to curb corruption, it is the greatest menace to our democracy and development,” petitioner-advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay contended.

Many state governments were deliberately weakening the Lokayukta by not providing adequate infrastructure, sufficient budget and workforce. They did not appoint superintendents of police in every district, while the prosecution wing, burdened with hundreds of cases, has one or two public prosecutors only. Many states have not amended the Lokayukta Act in accordance with the Central Act till date, the petitioner, also a Delhi BJP spokesperson, claimed.