AGARTALA, Dec 21 � Welcoming the passage of the historic Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Congress on Friday demanded bringing some changes in the Lokayukta Act in Tripura to make it more effective.
The Lokayukta Act of Tripura is a toothless and clawless tiger. It needs to be amended immediately if the government really wants to curb corruption in the State, said PCC spokesman Dr Ashok Sinha at a press conference at the Congress Bhavan here.
Dr Sinha while comparing the Tripura Lokayukta Act with the Lokpal Bill said that the Lokayukta Act does not empower conduct of any investigation against any public servant without approval from the competent authority but the Lokpal Bill provides its functionaries freedom from any intervention from the government side.
�The Lokpal Bill doesn�t make it incumbent upon its functionaries to seek any approval from any government functionary. The Lokayukta Act in Tripura, however, will require the functionary to seek approval from the competent authorities which often lead to inaction�, he pointed out.
Moreover, the Lokayukta shall not investigate any complaint of corrupt practices against any public functionary, if such complaint is made after one year from the date on which the corruption took place.
�As per the present format of the Act, one cannot register complaint against the Vardhman Pharma scam, Online lottery scam or TMC scam. It seems that the Lokayukta is working as a shield to the rampant corruption. But, in case of the Lokpal Bill, the time period of registration of complaint is extended till seven years ,� said he.
Dr Sinha further said the Lokpal Bill can direct the competent authority to initiate departmental proceedings or any other appropriate action against the concerned public servant but the Lokayukta Act needs government approval.
Citing example of �poor performance� of the Lokayukta Act, Dr Sinha said twelve complaints were filed before the Lokayukta since it came into existence way back in 2010. �The government has cleared proceedings against only one complaint of the total 12 complaints. Even the amendment in the Tripura Lokayukta Act last year bringing government functionaries under the ambit of the anti-graft law, has not yielded the desirable result so far�, he said.
