Chandigarh Newsline:Harpreet Bajwa: Friday, August 19, 2011.
Though the Punjab Lokpal has decided 203 cases in the last five years, till date, no action has been taken by the state government on any of the recommendations made by it.
According to the information received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, so far, the Lokpal has decided only one case this year. Interestingly, last year as well, only one case was decided, while 35 cases were decided in 2009, 44 in 2008, 18 in 2007 and four in 2006.
In all, 32 cases are pending investigation with the Lokpal. One of these is related to the alleged fake certificates complaint against former cabinet minister Master Mohan Lal. While the complaint against Mohan Lal is under investigation, the recommendations sent by the Lokpal against four senior Congress leaders had not been accepted by the state government.
The charges related to Laal Singh pertain to the period when he was a minister in the government headed by Beant Singh and Harcharan Singh Brar. Singh had been charged for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income by then Lokpal Justice H S Rai. The then governor Lt Gen B K N Chhibber (retd), referred it back to the Lokpal for reconsideration. Ultimately, the Lokpal report were tabled in the Punjab Assembly but no action was proposed by the then Akali government. In April, 2002, the next Lokpal, Justice D V Sehgal, cleared all charges against Singh.
Sources said that besides a few cases against former ministers and senior leaders, no other high-profile cases have been taken up by the Lokpal till date more than 95 per cent of the cases are related to appointments of health workers, ETT, Political Science, Hindi, JBT teachers, junior engineers and other appointments.
“When compared to Punjab, the Lokpal enjoys more powers in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, as there is a dedicated police force under it which can register cases, investigate and also arrest the alleged accused. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau also does not come under the Lokpal,” said an official.
Speaking to The Indian Express, current state Lokpal Justice D S Dhaliwal (retd) said: “We decide cases and send them to the state governor who, in turn, send these to the state government with his recommendations. We do not know the fate of the recommended cases sent to the government.’’
According to sources, the recommendations sent to the government are never implemented. State Chief Secretary Subodh Agrawal, however, claimed: “The recommendations are examined as per law and due action is taken.”
Punjab Lokpal:
The Punjab Lokpal is appointed on the advice of the chief minister in consultation with the Speaker of the state Assembly and/or the Chief Justice of Punjab and haryana High Court or Chief Justice of India. The rules also provide that a person shall not be qualified for appointment as Lokpal unless he is or has been a judge of the Supreme Court or chief justice or a judge of a high court. Till date four Lokpals have been appointed Justice SS Sodhi (1995), Justice H S Rai (1997), Justice D V Sehgal (2001) and Justice D S Dhaliwal (2006).
There is hardly any staff in the Lokpal which has investigative, administrative and judicial wings to deal with the complaints. The investigative wing, the main wing of the Lokpal, investigates all the complaints but there is only one IGP-level officer working.
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