Fuelled by the Anna Hazare phenomena, a lobby for the implementation of the now defunct Lokayukta in West Bengal is now demanding amendment in the existing act and the formulation of a uniform Lokayukta Bill applicable across states in India.
“The Lokayukta has to be empowered enough that it is able to take steps autonomously without political interference. The present act has loopholes which have meant that the effective functioning of the Lokayukta body has been stopped,” said retired justice Samaresh Banerjee.
Banerjee, who has the distinction of being the only Lokayukta that Bengal has so far had, served a term of three years, of which a year and half was spent waiting for an office and working facilities.
Also under cloud is the fact that the bureaucracy was exempted from the Lokayukta’s jurisdiction, a proposition, which the lobby is now strictly against. “The Lokayukta Act has to be make provisions for brining public servants and bureaucrats within the purview of the Act,” Banerjee said.
The Lokayukta, which operated in West Bengal for a limited period of a year and half received over 2000 complaints and proceedings were initiated in about 650 cases.
Problems however arose due to political interference because of which a mandatory body was created to which the Lokayukta would answer.
This would automatically interfere with the Lokayukta’s power severely limiting them.
The lobby, which has christened itself the ‘People’s forum for peace and democracy’ is also asking for increasing the tenure of the Lokayukta from the current three years to five years.
Among other things, the current resistance is asking for the mandatory provision that provides the corruption watchdog with an independent investigating agency and to make appropriate provisions for making institution completely independent administratively and in all other aspects. While asking for an act that endows the body with more power, Banerjee placed blame for the current failure not just with the government but also with the opposition. “Over the past 5 years, many meetings that have been called about the Lokayukta, the TMC has not attended a single one. This I think is as much to blame as is the government shielding the corrupt,” he said.
