Former HC judge Amitabh Gupta appointed J’khand Lokayukta
Governor Gangwar appoints former judge Amitabh Gupta as Jharkhand's Lokayukta, filling a five-year vacancy and addressing 3,500 pending corruption complaints.
Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar has appointed Amitabh Gupta, a former Jharkhand High Court judge, as the state’s next Lokayukta, officials said on Thursday.
Justice (Retd.) Amitabh Kumar Gupta (HT PHOTO)
This appointment paves the way to install the state’s top anti-corruption ombudsman after a five-year gap. The post of Lokayukta has been vacant since Dhrub Narayan Upadhyay passed away while in office on June 29, 2021. People aware of the development said that around 3,500 corruption-related complaints were currently pending due to this vacancy.
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“Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar appointed Justice Amitabh Kumar Gupta, a retired Judge of the Jharkhand High Court, as the Lokayukta of the State of Jharkhand,” a statement from Lok Bhavan said.
The development comes three days after the Hemant Soren government informed the Jharkhand High Court on Monday that it would recommend the new Lokayukta’s name to the Governor for approval within a week.
The assurance was made before the division bench headed by Chief Justice Mahesh Saraadchandra Sonak which is hearing a group of petitions related to the state’s defunct Information Commission and the vacant post of Lokayukta, which has been empty for several years.
Stationed in Ranchi, Vishal is heading the Jharkhand Bureau of Hindustan Times since November 2017. Besides leading the reporting team, Vishal tracks and writes on developments related to the state politics, economy and policy matters in Jharkhand. Prior to his current assignment, Vishal used to work in New Delhi after graduating from the University of Delhi. Vishal joined HT in the rank of Assistant Editor in August 2015 and was part of the Delhi Metro Bureau, covering a host of issues in the City-state including politics, policy---especially those related to urban traffic & transport infrastructure and railways. A native of Palamu district in Jharkhand, Vishal started his two-decade long career in the mainstream media in 2006. During this period, he has has worked in different capacity with a number of national media houses including the Financial Chronicle, India Today, Deccan Herald and The Hindu, before moving to the Hindustan Times. He holds the experience of having worked in three major mediums of mass communication--Print, Electronic and Digital. He is a proud father of two daughters.
