The Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha might have passed the new Lokayukta Bill to replace the old one passed by the previous BJP government. But the Bill is yet to see the light of the day with Governor Aziz Qureshi yet to give his assent to the new anti-corruption measure.
"The matter is under consideration," said Arun Dhaundiyal, Secretary to the Governor. It was not yet clear whether the Bill will again be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for the final approval like in the case of the previous bill where the Rashtrapati Bhavan had taken nearly two years to give the assent.
The sources said the government is yet to take a decision whether the Bill should be sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan or not.
A special session of the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha last month passed the new Lokayukta Bill which is modelled on the Lok Pal Bill passed by the Parliament and repealed the Lokayukta act enacted by the previous BJP government.
"We understand the government is sitting on the Lokayukta Bill. But it is a tactic to delay the implementation of Lokayukta Bill which in turn will also delay the fight against corruption," said leader of the opposition Ajay Bhatt.
Under the new Bill, the Lokayukta will be headed by a retired high court judge and will have five members. The post of the Chief Minister has been brought under the ambit of the Lokayukta. One member of the Lokayukta will be reserved for woman. One more member will be from SC/ST/minorities group.
Earlier, the government had stated that the office of the new Lokayukta will start functioning within the next six months from the date of passage of the Bill in the Vidhan Sabha.
However, officials said the implementation of the new Bill could also take more time.
President Mukherjee in September had given his assent to the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act. But the government decided not to implement it describing the act as "unconstitutional".
