Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking to bring govt official under Lokayukta ambit

A bench of acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Sachin Datta said that Lokayukta Act requires the appointment of a Lokayukta in every state and the same has been done in Delhi under the Delhi Lokayukta and Upalokayukta Act, 1995.

The Delhi high court on Thursday dismissed a plea for inclusion of officials working with the state government within the scope of the Lokayukta Act, 2013, and said it cannot direct the legislature to enact or amend any law.

The Delhi high court also noted that the Prevention of Corruption Act is available with the authorities in case they want to book any government official for corruption. (Pradeep Gaur/Mint)

A bench of acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Sachin Datta said that Lokayukta Act requires the appointment of a Lokayukta in every state and the same has been done in Delhi under the Delhi Lokayukta and Upalokayukta Act, 1995.

The court also noted that the Prevention of Corruption Act is available with the authorities in case they want to book any government official for corruption.

The plea was filed by an NGO, Help India Against Corruption, seeking directions to the Delhi government to implement the provisions of Lokpal and Lokayukta Act in Delhi in letter and spirit so as to enable the Lokayukta to deal with complaints relating to corruption against certain public functionaries.

The plea said in Delhi, the Delhi Lokayukta and Upalokayukta Act were in force prior to the enactment of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, but it only covered the politicians of Delhi and does not cover employees of the Delhi government and other civic agencies.

“Justice RN Aggarwal was appointed as the first Lokayukta of Delhi on December 1, 1997, thereafter on December 17, 2015, Justice Reva Khetrapal was appointed as fourth Lokpal of Delhi who has demitted the office on December 16, 2020, and since then, no Lokayukta has been appointed by the Government of NCT of Delhi and the post of Lokayukta in Delhi has been lying vacant with effect from December 16, 2020,” the plea said.

It said even after the 2013 Act came to force and in spite of the mandate of Section 63 of the said Act -- it required the state government to establish a Lokayukta for the state -- the Delhi government has not taken any action in this regard.

Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi submitted that retired Jharkhand high court judge justice Harish Chandra Mishra has been appointed as Lokayukta of Delhi and he has assumed charge on March 23.

Accordingly, the plea was dismissed.