Maharashtra govt to table Lokayukta Bill; to bring CM, ministers under its ambit

The Maharashtra cabinet has decided to bring Lokayukta Act in the state on the lines of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, which will also bring the chief minister as well as ministers under the purview of a Lokayukta, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Sunday.

Fadnavis said the Lokayukta Bill will be introduced in the winter session that will start on December 19. The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, will be part of the newly approved Lokayukta unlike the already existing one in the state, the deputy CM said while addressing a gathering on the eve of the winter session in Nagpur.

Also read: Fresh rules for babus to declare assets under Lokpal law yet to be notified: DoPT

On lines of Lokpal Act

“Respected Anna Hazare ji has been constantly demanding that Lokayukta Act should be passed in Maharashtra too, on the lines of the Lokpal Act, which has been passed at the Centre. Earlier, when there was a BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government in the state, we had set up a committee under the chairmanship of Anna Hazare and that committee was going to make recommendations in this regard,” Fadnavis said.

After the government changed in 2019, the MVA government did not seem to have done any work on it, he said.

“Now, since our government has come again, we decided to revive the committee and the report submitted by the committee of Anna Hazare has been completely accepted by the government. Accordingly, the Cabinet has approved the decision to frame the new Lokayukta Act. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde,” the deputy CM said.

CM, ministers under ambit

Fadnavis said that under the Lokayukta Act, an FIR under the Anti-Corruption Act can be registered against ministers, which was not possible under the earlier Lokayukta as it did not include the Prevention of Corruption Act. Under the new Act, the Lokayukta can directly instruct the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to register a case to inquire into corruption allegations, he added.

Also read: Lokpal to accept corruption complaints filed in prescribed format only

“The Lokayukta will be a retired Chief Justice of the High Court or a Supreme Court (judge). Two other judges of the High Court will also be there. It will be a committee of five people. This is a very important step taken by the government to bring complete transparency to the state. There will be two benches of judges in Lokayukta,” he said.