BJP, Congress engage in war of words over appoinment of Lokayukta

DEHRADUN: A bitter war of words has ensued between the opposition BJP and the state government after Uttarakhand governor K K Paul returned the file related to appointment of Lokayukta for the second time.
Former chief minister and senior BJP leader B C Khanduri during whose tenure the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill was drafted on the lines of Anna Hazare’s Lokpal Bill and was passed unanimously by the state assembly, said that he is “aghast at the hasty manner in which chief minister Harish Rawat is pushing for his “yes-man” to be appointed as the Lokayukta in the state.
“In last five years, the Congress government in Uttarakhand made no attempt to implement the Lokayukta Bill even when it was unanimously passed by the state assembly but now there is an undue haste to fill the post,” said Khanduri.
The BJP had red flagged the involvement of two retired high court judges, who were indicted by the CBI. One of the judges headed the Lokayukta selection committee while the second one was proposed for the post.
Khanduri said that the bill he had drafted had the provision that the CM was also under the purview of the Lokayukta and the ombudsman had powers to initiate investigations in cases of corruption.
Paul had first returned the Lokayukta appointment file in August and the same file was returned a few days ago, raising questions over the profile of the candidate – a retired high court judge. The governor had questioned that how a candidate with a tainted background was shortlisted for the post. Paul said that the judge has a CBI enquiry against him and it is not known if he has got a clean chit in the case.
Top government sources had told TOI that the file was returned to the state government and the CM’s office will be resending it again with additional documents as requested by the governor.
Denying all the allegations by the BJP, chief minister’s media advisor Surinder Kumar said, “Ajay Bhatt, the leader of opposition (BJP) was part of the Lokayukta selection committee and he had given his approval. There is no truth in the claims made by the BJP. The allegations are vague and baseless.”