The State’s anti-corruption body the Lokayukta is defunct for last one year. The sudden resignation by Goa’s first Lokayukta, Justice (Retd) Sudarshan Reddy in mid-October 2013, within seven months of taking over, left investigation of as many as 17 cases including the ones on mining and the illegal recruitments in government departments, pending before the body.
Reddy, whose appointment was hit by controversy, was sworn in on March 16, and the ombudsman body became functional from April, this year. Of the total 17 cases pending before it, three cases are against the government itself while another four cases are against former Congress leaders.
The State government handed over its first case to Lokayukta in May 2013. The scam – two separate cases – is on the agriculture and health alleged recruitment scams carried out prior to the 2012 Assembly elections under the erstwhile Congress government.
Both the departments were under then health minister and present Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane in the previous government.
The Lokayukta had issued a notice to the Director of Agriculture, Dean of Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) and the Selection Committee of Agricultural and Health Department on recruitments carried out between 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Two months before the Lokayukta could resign, the Vigilance Department handed over yet another illegal recruitment case to the ombudsman body – this one was pertaining to animal husbandry that was under former Ponda MLA Ravi Naik at that time.
The last case filed before Lokayukta was the much-awaited illegal mining scam, where the anti-corruption agency was asked to investigate whether there were any civil liabilities that were incurred due to the scam.
Though the complaint had not named anyone, it had attached the Justice M B Shah Commission report and State Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, that had named former chief ministers (now MLAs) charging that they were part of the system in shielding and allowing illegalities in the mining sector.
