SC asks 12 states why they have not appointed Lokayukta
What's the story
The Supreme Court today asked the Chief Secretaries of 12 states to specify why they have not appointed a Lokayukta. A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R Banumathi also asked the Chief Secretary of Odisha to apprise the court about the status of the Lokayukta in state and said the apex court has no information whether it has an anti-corruption ombudsman or not.
Section 63
Every state shall establish a Lokayukta: Section 63
Section 63 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, states that every state shall establish a body to be known as the Lokayukta. The apex court also asked the 12 states to specify by when they would appoint a Lokayukta. The 12 states involved are Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and West Bengal.
PIL
The PIL was filed by Delhi BJP leader
The SC was hearing a PIL filed by advocate and Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. The PIL sought a direction to the states to provide adequate budgetary allocation and essential infrastructure for effective functioning of Lokayuktas. Reportedly, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 received Presidential assent on January 1, 2014, and came into force from January 16, 2014.