Maharashtra to have Lokayukta law on lines of Centre’s Lokpal which will bring CM ministers under its ambit Fadnavis
In a major move, the Maharashtra government on Sunday said it has decided to bring a bill to appoint a Lokayukta in the state, with powers to scrutinize the Chief Minister and the entire Cabinet, for transparency in administration and to eliminate corruption.
Making the announcement at the customary press briefing on the eve of the commencement of the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Legislature, back in the state’s second capital city after a span of three years, from Monday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said this was following the submission of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s demand to make the state corruption free.
Shinde said the three-member Lokayukta will be set up, comprising a Chairman of the rank of a Supreme Court Judge or Chief Justice of the High Court, while the two members will be on the rank of High Court judges. This was a long pending demand and issue, Fadnavis added.
A Cabinet meeting, held at the Chief Minister’s camp residence under the chairmanship of Shinde, discussed the matter at length and adopted the resolution and the bill will be tabled in the ensuing Assembly session, Fadnavis said.
Shinde avoided a direct question on whether the Act will be retrospective covering all previous Chief Ministers, while Fadnavis said the Prevention of Corruption Act will be incorporated into this Act.
On the Maharashtra-Karnataka border row, Shinde said that it was was taken seriously and both Chief Ministers met Union Home Minister, Amit Shah.
Meanwhile, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has decided to corner the Shinde-Fadnavis government on the issues of a border dispute that triggered violence in the states, the alleged “insult” of state icons, like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Fule, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar by Governor B S Koshyari and other BJP leaders.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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