Soon after taking oath as the chief minister of Uttarakhand on September 11, B C Khanduri had announced setting up of a stronger Lokayukta to check corruption within a period of two months.
Yesterday, the Uttarakhand government approved the draft of a Lokayukta Bill, bringing in its all ministers including the chief minister, MLAs and government servants including IAS and IPS officers, with a provision of life imprisonment or more severe punishment.
The new Lokyukta Bill, which is a mélange of a couple of Lok Pal drafts prepared by Team Anna and others, ran into controversy with RLEK, a leading NGO here, slamming the measure saying it is discriminatory due to its controversial provisions of taking the consent of all the members of the Lokayukta for investigations.
"You can't take the permission of all members as it is highly impracticle," said Avdhash Kaushal, who is head of RLEK.
The state Cabinet also decided to pass the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill 2011 in the Vidhan Sabha session which resumes tomorrow.
Under the new Lokayukta Bill, the lower judiciary will be covered under the Bill while judges of the Uttarakhand High Court will not be under its purview.
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Former chief ministers, former ministers and retired officers will also be under the purview of the Lokayukta. The Lokayukta would consist of a chairperson and five members with a scope of increasing the number to seven as per the need and requirement.
The term of the chairperson of the Lokayukta would be of five years or upto the age of 70 years, which ever is earlier.
After completion of investigations, the chargesheet will be filed by the Lokayukta in a special court established under the prevention of corruption act for a speedy trial. The period of investigation, as far as possible, would not be more than 12 months. The Lokayukta will have the power to recommend punishment of dismissal, removal or reduction in rank against government servants. The recommendation shall be binding on the appointing or disciplinary authority of the government.
For any act of corruption, the punishment shall not be less than six months of rigorous imprisonment and may extend up to the imprisonment of ten years. In the rarest of rare case, the punishment may be extended upto life imprisonment under the provisions of the Bill.