By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Two months after the Meghalaya Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was passed in the Assembly the Government is now planning to send the Bill to the Governor for his ascent.
“We will send the Bill both to the Governor and the President of India for their clearance”, an official with the law department said on Monday.
He also added that in the present form, there is no scope for amendment of the Bill by the department as it was passed by the House and only the Assembly can gain make changes to the Bill.
It was on April 18 that the House passed the Meghalaya Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2013, an amended version of the old Meghalaya Lokayukta Bill, 2012 after the Governor refused to give ascent to the earlier Bill. The 2013 Bill was passed after incorporating the Governor’s recommendations.
However, during their discussion in the Assembly in April the legislators had asked the Government to go slow on passing the Bill and also sought more time for discussion before finally clearing it.
The reason was that like the 2012 Bill, the amended Bill had several loopholes when it came to checking corruption in totality. Moreover, the Bill in the current form had several defects which would also discourage the common man from seeking justice.
Considering the suggestions, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma had assured the House that despite being passed, the Bill will be brought back to the House again “for debate and further amendment to make it more effective.”
However, the government took two months in deciding to send the Bill to the Governor for his ascent and irrespective of whether the Bill is sent back with or without the ascent of the Governor or the President of India, the process of setting up a strong Lokayukta would take a long time as the matter will be again brought to the House for further discussion aimed at amending the Bill as assured by the Chief Minister.
There are also chances that after getting the ascent of the Governor, the Government may go ahead with the formation of the Lokayukta which, however, will surely evoke wide spread criticism.