Lokayukta Bill defies Central laws: Guv

Pratibha Chauhan 

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 30 

The possibility of the Lokayukta Bill being passed by the Assembly getting the President’s assent seems bleak as acting Governor Kalyan Singh today made adverse observations about it.

It was only yesterday that the state government had sent the Lokayukta Bill to the Governor. Sources said Kalyan Singh, after examining the Bill and taking into account the opinions given by the Law Department, decided to pen his opinion before sending it to the President. 

Kalyan Singh, who is also the Governor of Rajasthan and has been given additional charge of Himachal till a regular appointment is made, will leave for Jaipur tomorrow. All important files, memorandum and complaints that are received at Raj Bhawan will be sent to Jaipur.

The observations made by Kalyan are in line with similar views expressed by BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister PK Dhumal in the House when the Bill was debated in the Assembly. 

Sources said the Governor had made remarks about the Lokayukta Bill being in contravention of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, which are both Central legislation and the Lokayukta could not have powers to act under it. 

He is learnt to have pointed out that the powers for granting prosecution sanction under CrPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act lie only with the appointing authority which could vary in case of politicians and public servants. The other issue raised by the Governor is that the Lokayukta cannot be given the contempt of court powers as it is a Central Act. 

It was during the winter session in December 2014 at Dharamsala that the new Lokayukta Bill had been passed. The Opposition BJP too had cited certain lacunae in the Bill and said it was in contravention of some Central Acts. 

The Assembly while passing the Bill had decided to give contempt of court powers to the Lokayukta and also continuing it as a single member body to check corruption among politicians as well as public servants. 

Himachal was among the first states to have enacted the Lokayukta Act in 1986 and setting up its own Lokayukta. The Virbhadra regime decided to enact a new Lokayukta Bill in 2014 rather than making amendments to the earlier Act of 1986. The earlier Lokayukta Bill that had been passed by the Assembly in 2013 had been sent by Governor Urmila Singh to the President but had not been given assent.