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  India   Apex court to hear PIL on Lokpal

Apex court to hear PIL on Lokpal

Published : Sep 11, 2016, 6:08 am IST
Updated : Sep 11, 2016, 6:08 am IST

The Supreme Court will hear a public interest writ petition on September 14 filed by advocate and social activist Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay for the appointment of an independent Lokpal at the Centre and

The Supreme Court will hear a public interest writ petition on September 14 filed by advocate and social activist Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay for the appointment of an independent Lokpal at the Centre and an equally effective Lokayukta in all the states in the spirit of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Acts 2013.

In his PIL, Mr Upadhyay said that corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on society. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life, and allows organized crime, terrorism, and other threats to human security to flourish. Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining government’s ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign aid and investment.

India is ranked 76th in the corruption perception index (2015).

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act will address this scourge. It is not only necessary to curb corruption, the greatest menace to our democracy and development, but is also essential to achieve the great golden goals as set out in the Preamble of Indian Constitution.

Mr Upadhyay pointed out that the state governments which had set up Lokayukta are deliberately weakening it by not providing adequate budget, infrastructure, and work force. Governments are not appointing superintendents of police in every district, while the prosecution wing of the Lokayukta, burdened with hundreds of cases, has one or two public prosecutor. Moreover, the reports of the Lokayukta are not binding on the government. Several other states have made sure that the law setting up the Lokayukta itself was weak and did not cover legislators. Hence the present petition for a suitable direction to the Centre and states to set up Lokpal and Lokayuktas.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi