The confidential annual report of the Maharashtra Lokayukta was submitted to the State Governor recently, and some statistics and facts came to our attention- and we were completely taken aback! For a state so proud to be the first one to establish this “people’s watchdog” back in 1971, it is pretty much redundant now.
Five Ways The Maharashtra Lokayukta Has Been Rendered Redundant
1. It has limited investigative powers and their request to be assigned a ‘police’ status has been repeatedly ignored. Once they do investigate a case and find damning evidence, they have no power to file a chargesheet in a trial court. Just a report with a suggestion to begin a departmental enquiry against the officer found guilty is sent to the state government, which promptly finds its place in a dingy storeroom.
2. Their request for expansion and recruitment has been repeatedly denied by the state government for five years now.
3. Departmental enquiries are deliberately pushed by the state for years, sometimes beginning on the last day of work of the officer accused– when he’s 60!
4. Their jurisdiction does not extend to the Chief Minister of Members of the Legislative Assembly; only public servants. So, that excludes the state’s Adarsh Housing Scam, The Irrigation Scam, the Antulay Trust scandal and the Cobbler Scam. That’s convenient, don’t you think?
5. The Maharashtra Lokayukta follows the non-disclosure norm in case of a corruption complaint. So first they don’t reveal who did what wrong; then if actually found guilty, the state government takes over and buries the case in red tape and really slow-paced sarkaari speeches.
Video Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan
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