Dear
friends
During
week-long Anti-corruption Campaign organised
by Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan in 23 districts of Odisha from 1st
to 7th April 2017, we have undertaken signature campaign to build up public opinion and generate public demand for immediate
constitution of Lokayukta with amendment of Odisha Lokayukta Act in the
state. Hundreds of the people joining in
our campaign have supported our drive by signing memorandum addressed to Hon’ble Governor, Odisha for constitution of Lokayukta in the
state. This memorandum has already been
submitted to office of Governor,
Odisha through Collectors of few
district. However, the Memorandum with
compiled signature is also sent to Governor, Odisha by post on 25.4.17.
The text of Memorandum is
presented below for Readers’ reference.
Regards
Pradip
Pradhan
State
Convener
M-9937843482
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memorandum
to Governor Odisha for ensuring the appropriate amendment to the impugned
Odisha Lokayukta Bill 2014 for early institution of Lokayukta in the State.
To
Hon’ble Governor, Odisha, Bhubaneswar
SUB: Request for sending the impugned
Odisha Lokayukta Bill 2014 to the State legislature for reconsideration by it
by way of an appropriate amendment for making the State Vigilance an
independent and autonomous anti-corruption agency of the State.
Esteemed Governor Odisha,
We, the following
signatories , joining in Anti-Corruption Campaign Organized by Odisha
Soochana Adhikar Abhijan from 1st
to 7th April, 2017 , bring to your kind notice the following
matter seeking your judicious action.
(1) As
you might know, the historic, anti-corruption law The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act
2013 after being passed by the Parliament was notified thereafter in Official
Gazette on 1st January 2014. One of the most welcome provisions of
this Act, which was also cherished by millions of Indians over decades, was
that it, by way of amending the DSPE Act 1946, provided for reconstituting the
CBI into a free, independent and autonomous agency for investigating into all
manners of serious crimes including corruption in high places. Besides, the
said Act also armed the Lokpal with the power of monitoring over CBI in respect
of the cases of corruption entrusted by Lokpal to CBI for the purpose of
investigation and prosecution. Moreover, the said Central law also mandated
each State Government to pass a law for institution of Lokayukta within one
year of its notification, in sync with the letter and spirit of the Central
law.
(2) As a
matter of fact, Odisha was one among a few States, which in mid-February 2014
passed Odisha Lokayukta Bill 2014, though too hurriedly and bypassing any consultation
with civil society groups engaged around anti-corruption issues. As a result,
the Bill so passed suffered from several glaring omissions and commissions,
which were also pointed out to the President, Governor and Chief Minister of
the State through memoranda addressed to them and as well through media
highlights. The most critical lacunae of the Bill, for which the Bill was
condemned by all Opposition parties and civil society groups in unison, was its
failure to reconstitute the State Vigilance the premier anti-corruption wing of
the state into a free, independent and autonomous agency like the CBI was
reformed at the Central level. Besides, the said Bill also kept the State
Vigilance outside the monitoring purview of Lokayukta even in the matter of
investigation of corruption cases referred by Lokayukta to Vigilance.
(3) However,
despite all this, the loopholes-ridden Odisha Lokayukta Bill was sent to the
President for his concurrence, as it had been made under a Central law. The
President reportedly gave his assent to the Bill towards the end of January
2015. But, thereafter, in absence of its notification in the Official Gazette,
nobody has any clues as of today as to what actually happened to the impugned
Bill.
(4) Needless
to say, while the Jan Lokpal Andolan was going on in full swing across the whole
nation under the irresistible inspiration of Anna Hazare the iconic
anti-corruption protagonist, the people of Odisha while supporting the cause of
Lokpal at Centre, demanded too the setting up of a properly constituted and
empowered Lokayukta in the State in place of a dysfunctional Lokpal languishing
under the toothless Orissa Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 1995. As a matter of fact,
the said Act of 1995 along with its institution of Lokpal stood abolished under
Section 60 of the freshly passed Odisha Lokayukta Bill 2014.
(5) As
irony would have it, Odisha is now stuck up in a Trishanku state, whereby we
have neither the old Lokpal nor the new Lokayukta in place to hear the people’s
burgeoning grievances around corruption. However, given the choice, we won’t
want either the revival of old Lokpal, which like a white elephant proved
good-for-nothing during two decades of its nebulous career, or the installation
of new Lokayukta proposed under the Bill, which having no semblance of control
over State Vigilance would prove equally good-for-nothing albeit its high-profile
statutory outfit and its disproportionately huge share in state exchequer.
(6) Under
the circumstances, we would earnestly beseech your esteemed authority to
consider and act upon the following constitutionally available options in the
interest of offering a good Lokayukta law to the people of the State, and
thereby help the emergence of a corruption-free Odisha in days to come-
(i)
Sending back the impugned Odisha
Lokayukta Bill 2014 to Odisha Legislative Assembly for reconsidering it with a
view to its proper Amendment;
(ii)
Ensuring that such amendment should
provide for making the State Vigilance, like the CBI at Central level, into a
free, independent and autonomous investigative agency;
(iii) Ensuring
that such amendment should provide for exercise of monitoring authority by the
State Lokayukta over the State Vigilance in respect of cases of corruption
referred by the former to the latter for the purpose of investigation and
prosecution;
(iv) Ensuring
that such amendment should provide for an adequate and independent budgetary
provision for State Vigilance so as to help it discharge its multifarious
functions as an anti-corruption watchdog agency properly and effectively;
(v)
Ensuring that such amendment should
provide for adequate budgetary, infrastructural and manpower provisions to the State
Lokayukta so as to enable it to function independently and effectively;
(vi) Ensuring
that such amendment, in compliance to the provisions made in Lokpal Act, should
provide for entrusting the monitoring authority to State Lokayukta in respect
of implementation of Odisha Right to Public Services Act 2012.
Coming to the
other item of the agenda i.e. Odisha Lokayukta Act 2014, Sri Singh observed
that this Act in its present form won’t serve the purpose of timely
investigation and prosecution of the cases of corrupt public servants as
envisaged in the parent Central Act, because of its major lacunae i.e. absence
of a free, independent and autonomous vigilance organization. Unlike the parent
Lokpal Act which provided for reconstitution and empowerment of CBI into a
free, independent and autonomous body, the Odisha Lokayukta Act leaves the
Directorate of Vigilance the premier anticorruption, investigating arm of the
State untouched, and it remains as before a pliant tool in the hands of the
ruling clique for punishing or protecting any public servant charged with
corruption, to suit their partisan considerations. Demanding suitable amendment
to the defective Odisha Lokayukta Bill 2014, several petitions were timely
submitted to President, Prime Minister, Governor and Chief Minister by
Bhrastachar Birodhi Abhijan and Odisha Lokayukta Abhijan. But, ignoring the
same, the Governor approved and President assented to the Bill, as a result of
which we have now a lame-duck Odisha Lokayukta Act, which is utterly incapable
of guaranteeing any impartial and independent probe into any allegation of
corruption leveled against a public servant let alone prosecuting or punishing
him within the time-limits laid down in the parent Act. It is therefore
required of us to raise our voice aloud for an early amendment to Odisha
Lokayukta Act 2014 before the Lokayukta is constituted as per this defective Act.
Dealing with Odisha Lokayukta Act
2014, Sri Behera reiterated Sri Singh’s proposal to launch a sustained campaign
for amending the Act with a view to incorporating the provisions that would
impart freedom, impartiality and autonomy to the state’s premier anticorruption
investigating agency Directorate of Vigilance in line with the provisions of
parent Act in respect of CBI. He observed that in the given situation, a
separate chapter dealing with Directorate of Vigilance needs to be inserted
into Odisha Lokayukta Act, whereby the provision for selection of the DG
Vigilance by a 3-member body comprising Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition
and Chief Justice of High Court should be made. Besides, the proposed Chapter
should provide for the overall control and supervision over the Director
Prosecution to be exercised by the DG Vigilance. In absence of a law like DSPE
Act in the State of Odisha, the Directorate of Vigilance while discharging its
role and functions independently and autonomously for all practical purposes
ought to remain accountable to State Lokayukta for the purpose of monitoring
and reporting of its activities. With these observations, Sri Behera concluded
his talk and asked for comments if any on the same from among the participants.
The Odisha Lokayukta Act 2014 in its
present form, we are sure, would merely add to the long list of toothless laws
that exist as of today concerning investigation and action against corrupt
public servants, be they Ministers, MLAs/MPs, Panchayat leaders or Officials.
The call of hour is therefore to unleash from today itself a new campaign, of
course a more challenging one, for appropriate amendment to Odisha Lokayukta
Act 2014 with a view to making the State Vigilance, the potential investigating
wing of would-be Lokayukta, a truly free, and independent, empowered and
autonomous body. An alternative to such proposal for amendment to the flawed
Odisha Lokayukta Act 2014, around which both Government and civil society may
deliberate with concert, is the option of a separate law to be enacted for
imparting freedom, independence and autonomy to Odisha Directorate of
Vigilance, the chief anticorruption investigating agency of the State, on the
lines of DPSE Act 1946 which governs the constitution and functioning of CBI.
It is worth noting that the Abhijan
apart from singling out the issue of a toothless Vigilance as the most engaging
one in the context of the ongoing public discourse around Odisha Lokayukta law,
had also pointed out several related omissions and commissions in the Odisha
Bill which are still relevant in critiquing the Odisha Lokayukta Act 2014 in
the light of parent Lokpal Act 2013.
Signature of the public
joined in Anti-corruption campaign orgnaised by OSAA.
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