An amendment bill brought by VPP legislator Adelbert Nongrum to give more teeth and independence to the Meghalaya Lokayukta was rejected through a voice vote in the Assembly today.
While introducing his Private Members’ Bill namely the Meghalaya Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Nongrum said, “What the people of the State are expecting from this august house today, is a voice in support of Lokayukta, and a voice against the virus of corruption.”
After Nongrum introduced the amendment bill, Assembly Speaker Thomas Sangma put the bill for voice vote. However, all MLAs from the ruling MDA gave it a resounding ‘No’.
Earlier while introducing the Bill, Nongrum said that the amendment to the Lokayukta Act, 2021 has diluted the effective functioning of Lokayukta in the State. According to him, by changing the strength of Lokayukta members, the law no longer bears resemblance to what was originally in the principal act.
“By allowing option of a single member body of just the chairperson alone, and without the mandatory appointment of judicial member(s) in what is a statutorily a judicial body, and to hear and decide cases of corruption by a single member bench, the Meghalaya Lokayukta Amendment Act of 2021 has practically weakened the role of the Lokayukta in the State,” Nongrum said.
He further alleged that the present Meghalaya Lokayukta Act has been robbed of the essential provisions of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act of Parliament. According to him, the essential provisions of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act were deleted and substituted by the Amendment Act of 2021.
