Bring President under Lokpal: Kalam

Set up lokayuktas in three months, states asked

President APJ Abdul Kalam today called for bringing the post of the President under the purview of the Lokpal and asked the states to institute the lokayuktas within three months.

Inaugurating the 8th all-India conference of lokayuktas and Lokpal at the Forest Research Institute here, Kal-am, however, asked the loka-yuktas to ensure that the elected representatives and government servants did not become a "victim" of vilification campaign by vested interests.

"All elected representatives and top-level executives in the states who are responsible for executing the government schemes should be brought under the purview of this body (lokayukta). I will even suggest that the office of the fountain head of judiciary, which in our system is the President, be also brought under the purview of the Lokpal," he said.

In this regard, the President took note of some states, which had not set up the offices of the lokayuktas. "I am informed that lokayukta laws are enforced in 17 states. Posts of lokayuktas in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are vacant at present," he said.

"Large number of states and Union Territories are not having these institutions. This situation meets the immediate attention of all the elected representatives who are responsible for accountability in governance," he said.

The President asked states to institute the lokayuktas in three months "where the mechanism does not exist at present."

Stating that there was no uniformity in legislation made in various states regarding the functioning of lokayuktas and classes of persons to be covered, the President said: "There is a need to address this anomaly in the national scale."

He said a review panel of jurists could be appointed by the government to review the model lokayukta law with a view to injecting more simplicity, which, after public debate could be made applicable. To revive the confidence of citizens , he said it was essential to strengthen the internal checks and balances of the democratic system through a constitutionally instituted mechanism. In this effort, lokayukta could play a pivotal role, he said.

Kalam also noted that MLAs were kept out of the lokayukta's purview on the plea that they could not be placed in the category of public servants. This point was highlighted in a case in Karnataka when it brought before the office of Lokayukta. Since retired and eminent judges were heading lokayuktas, it was essential for them to clearly interpret who were included in the purview of lokayuktas.

If that aspect was not clear, this conference should debate the issue so that appropriate recommendations could be made to the government, he said.

He also asked lokayuktas to ensure speedy delivery system, which could be incorporated as a "mid course correction" with minimum damage to the development process. It was of utmost importance that investigative findings of lokayuktas were made actionable and the process of investigation and prosecution remained insulated from political influences, he said.