HC orders Uttarakhand to appoint Lokayukta chair, members in 8 weeks

Lawyer Rajeev Singh Bisht, who appeared for the petitioner, told the high court that Uttarakhand hasn’t appointed a Lokayukta chairperson and members

Updated on: Jun 27, 2023, 18:55:02 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday ordered the state government to appoint the chairperson and members of the state’s Lokayukta within eight weeks and submit a compliance report.

A bench of chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Rakesh Thapliyal gave the eight-week deadline to the government on a 2021 petition filed by Haldwani-based social activist Ravi Shankar Joshi. The high court will next hear the case on August 10.

Lawyer Rajeev Singh Bisht, who appeared for the petitioner, said that he told the bench that the delay in the appointment of Lokayukta chairperson was a violation of the law and that the high court took a serious view of the state government’s approach.

Bisht added that the high court expressed surprise that though there was no Lokayukta, the state government had appointed 24 people to the watchdog and that ₹29 crore out of ₹36 crore allocated for the Lokayukta have been spent.

Bisht said the court has directed the state government not to spend money from the Lokaukta’s funds till the appointments are made.

“The high court also directed the state government to submit details of 24 personnel in an affidavit to be filed within three weeks along with the details of the tasks given to them,” he said.

In March, the high court directed the government to file a status report on the establishment of the Lokayukta and disclose the expenditure incurred on the said Institution up to March 31, 2023.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More