Why take up Lokayukta bill on last day of session?

Chennai: Opposing the state government move to push ‘Lokayukta’ Bill in the Assembly without calling for a public debate, Arappor Iyakkam, a non-profit organisation, has called for protest against government move to table the Bill on the last day of the Budget meeting in the Assembly on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of NGO, said  Lokayukta must be given ample power and it must be made as independent body as it would be an important mechanism to eradicate the corruption from the state.

He suspected that the government is planning to introduce the Bill with an intention of making the body a powerless one. Hence, the government is moving the Bill hurriedly on the last day of the current Assembly session, he said.

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 201, was passed and notified in the gazette in 2014. Section 63 of the Lokayukta Act mandated that every state shall pass it within a year after Lokpal comes to effect. Tamil Nadu should have enacted the Legislation by January 2015.

However, the state government kept pending it stating that a case relating to it was pending before the high court. The Supreme Court had ordered the state to report compliance of the progress made over the issue by July 10, 2018. In an effort to avoid anger of the Supreme Court, the government has proposed to table the Bill in the eleventh hour on July 9.

Meanwhile, a few days back minister for fisheries and personnel and administrative reforms D. Jayakumar informed the media the government would table the Lokayukta Bill in the Assembly shortly. However, officials from law department or personnel and administrative reforms were not aware of the contents in the Bill. “If a powerful Lokayukta body formed, this would prosecute politicians and officials including Chief Minister and Ministers, IAS and IPS officials”, he said.

Earlier, the government informed the Apex Court that the state has Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to combat corruption and DVAC was sufficient to deal with the issue. The DVAC has been controlled by politician and officials. The personnel in the department were unable to perform their duty independently and freely, he said.