Maharashtra eyes Lokayukta law with CM, cabinet under its ambit

The five-member bench of the Lokayukta will be headed either by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired chief justice of a high court, and comprise two more retired judges, the state government said.

The Maharashtra government will table a more stringent Lokayukta law that will empower the ombudsman to investigate and prosecute even the chief minister and cabinet ministers, the state government announced after the cabinet meeting on Sunday evening.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with the state deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during a press conference on the eve of winter session of Maharashtra Assembly, in Nagpur, Sunday. (PTI)

The five-member bench of the Lokayukta will be headed either by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired chief justice of a high court, and comprise two more retired judges, it said.

The state cabinet has decided to accept the draft submitted last week by a committee headed by social activist Anna Hazare. The state government will table the Lokayukta Bill in the winter session of the assembly starting on Monday, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

“The committee to draft the bill was constituted by previous BJP-Shiv Sena government, but nothing was done after it. We have now decided to accept the draft in toto. The incumbent Lokayukta has no power to initiate action under the Prevention of Corruption Act. There was no provision of action against corruption by the Lokayukta,” he said. “The new law will empower the body for action. The government will have no say in action against the corruption. The object of the move is not to target anybody, but to bring more transparency in the governing process.”

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, an anti-corruption law enacted in Parliament, had a provision of stringent laws at the state level for investigation and prosecution of politicians. After Hazare protested against the three agriculture laws in January 2021, which have since been repealed, a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by Fadnavis had met him and assured implementation of the Lokayukta Act he had proposed. Hazare had then called off the agitation after the delegation met him at his residence in Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district.

“The committee under Hazare submitted the draft of the bill last week to the state government. It has proposed powers to the Lokayukta to investigate and prosecute politicians, including the chief minister and ministers. We have also proposed to bring a Directorate of Prosecution of Maharashtra police under the gamut of Lokayukta so that there would be no scope for the political interference in such cases. The draft is stringent than any other state or central government,” an official of the law and judiciary department said, requesting anonymity.

The Lokayukta in its new form was expected to come within a year of the Act passed in Parliament in 2013, said a person close to Hazare. “No government acted upon it since then. We have also recommended that Lokayukta will get no appointment after his retirement from the post for the next two years. There is a provision of a fine of up to ₹2 lakh for frivolous complaint against any government servant. This will act against misuse of the law,” the person said, declining to be named.