Shillong, March 04: Meghalaya Cabinet today proposed to introduce Meghalaya Lokayukta Bill 2014 to replace the Meghalaya Lokayukta (Amendment) Act 2013.
Addressing a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said the Government proposed to re re-introduce Meghalaya Lokayukta Bill 2014 with minor fine tuning to suit the local condition.
Thus the Government would repeal the Lokayukta Act, 2013 and introduce a new legislation following the passage of the Lokpal Bill by Parliament in December 2013.
“We are proposing to reintroduce the Lokayukta act which will replace Meghalaya Lokayukta act 2013,” Sangma said.
“Since Parliament has passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013, we have to re-introduce the Bills in conformity with the principal Act passed in the Parliament,” Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
“We have brought in minor changes in the act,” the chief Minister asserted.
“It will be called as the Meghalaya Lokayukta Act, 2014, it is not an amendment but will be a replacement of the existing Act,” he said.
According to Sangma, the new Act will be fine tuned in areas where the number of members appointed will be five including the chairman.
He said any person who is eligible to be appointed as the judge of the High Court is eligible to be appointed as the member of the Loayukta besides a retired Union Government secretary or a state Chief Secretary is also eligible to be the chairman.
In the proposed Bill, the State Government also intends to put those organsations or societies under the purview of the Bill who receives foreign contribution.
Dr. Mukul Said, “Under this act any organisation which gets foreign grant under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 will come under the purview of Lokayukta.”
Earlier, several NGOs and activists had demanded for stronger Lokayukta Act to bring it in line with the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, passed by the Parliament in 2013.(SP News)
