The Supreme Court pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday for delaying the appointment of a Lokayukta despite the orders of contempt proceedings issued against the UP government on Friday for the non-compliance of its order to appoint a new Lokayukta in the state.
The apex court firmly asked the state government to appoint the Lokayukta by Wednesday.
On April 24, last year, the court had upheld the constitutional validity of amendment in UP Lokayukta Act, for fixing an eight-year tenure for the anti-corruption ombudsman.
It had also directed the state government to take steps for selecting the new incumbent of Lokayukta Justice (retd) NK Mehrotra within six months.
The apex court, in July this year, had taken note of a contempt petition alleging non-compliance of its orders and directed the state to do the needful within 30 days.
The fresh contempt plea, filed by Sachidanand Gupta, alleged disobedience by the state government.
Advocate Kamini Jaiswal, appearing for Gupta, said that the state administration needed to be issued the contempt notice for its brazen defiance of the orders.
Earlier, Justice Mehrotra was appointed as Lokayukta on March 16, 2006 for six years and later, the government granted him a two-year extension by amending the Act under which the tenure was extended to eight years, or till a successor took over. While upholding the constitutional validity of the amendment to the UP Lokayukta Act, the court had directed the state government to take steps to select a new ombudsman within six months.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)