Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today defended the state government’s amendment to Section 5 of the Meghalaya Lokayukta Act 2014, which allows for the office of the Chairperson to function even when other members are yet to be appointed.
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 act.
“It is not just our state. Many other states have only one person as a Chairperson who runs the Lokayukta and, as per situation and requirement, we will be going ahead and appointing more people if the situation requires it,” the CM said.
Last year the Khasi Students Union 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.