The litigation cell of the Khasi Students Union (KSU) has called on the state government to fill the vacancies in the state’s Lokayukta bench.
The Lokayukta should have one Chairperson and a maximum of four members (half of which have to be judicial members), as per the provisions of the Meghalaya Lokayukta Act 2014.
However, the government has appointed only a Chairperson and amended the act last year so that decisions made by the Lokayukta will not be invalidated if there is a vacancy “created due to the non-availability or non-appointment of the Chairman or members”.
Despite receiving a directive from the Supreme Court to appoint judicial and non-judicial members of the Lokayukta, the government “willfully disrespected” the order, the KSU said in a letter to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today.
The pressure group said that the appointment of members is a necessity with “proper and strong reasoning” as the Lokayukta is tasked with probing allegations of corruption in the public sphere.
