U'khand govt deliberately not appointing Lokayukta: Khanduri  

Dehradun, Aug 21: Criticising the state government for not appointing a Lokayukta despite nearly six months since a legislation in this regard was passed by the State Assembly, former Uttarakhand Chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri on Thursday said the delay was deliberate.

"The government is deliberately delaying appointment of the Lokayukta as it fears that many of its functionaries will come under the scanner of the anti-graft ombudsman.

"It lacks the political will to fight corruption," the senior BJP leader who represents Pauri constituency in the Lok Sabha said. Khanduri said the state government's lack of political will to fight corruption was also evident in the manner in which it quashed the Lokayukta bill passed by the state assembly during his tenure in 2011 despite the President giving it his ascent after prolonged legal scrutiny.

"Bahuguna government replaced that bill with a much watered down version based on the Centre's Lokpal. However, that too has not yet been appointed in Uttarakhand. It shows the government does not have the will to combat corruption," he said.

Bahuguna government had passed the Lokayukta bill in the state Assembly on January 21 and going by constitutional provisions in this regard it must come into force within 180 days or six months. The six month period for the appointment of the Lokayukta in Uttarakhand gets over on August 26.

PTI