PANJIM: A group of social activists has moved the High Court of Bombay at Goa, seeking appointment of two retired judges as Goa State Information Commissioners (GSIC) and Lokayukta — posts that are currently vacant.
In the petition filed on Tuesday, the Goa RTI Forum and the activists have suggested that ex-Judges Avinash Lawande and Utkarsh Bakre be appointed to clear the increasing backlog at the two forums.
“The GSIC has become defunct and Goa Lokayukta is also not filled, thereby making it impossible to get information from government offices and taking benefit that no Lokayukta is placed the corruption in government departments has increased,” reads the PIL filed before the court on Tuesday.
The first and only Lokayukta of Goa, Justice (retd) Reddy had resigned on October 13, 2013 after which government failed to fill the vacancy. The GSIC retired on January 31, 2015.
The petitioners stated that the government’s illegal action to keep the constitutional posts vacant is not a mandate of the law.
“Such action not to appoint such commissioners and Lokayukta is most illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and unbecoming of person’s appointment to uphold and enforce the mandate of the law,” the PIL reads.
They have urged the court to appoint Lawande and Bakre as stop gap arrangements to reduce pendency of cases until the Goa government makes appointments to the posts.
They have also sought disciplinary action or any action as per the law against the government for ‘dereliction of duty, designedly defective procedures, intentional acts of omission and commission’.
