The Meghalaya Lokayukta Act 2014 came about after a protracted struggle by civil society activists, mainly the Thma U Rangli U Juki (TUR) which had engaged extensively with the government to constitute this anti-corruption forum. According to the Act the Lokayukta should comprise of a Chairperson and a maximum of four other members of whom 50% percent will be judicial members. In Meghalaya this clause was ignored. Justice Mushahary functioned as a one-man army. The Lokayukta as an institution is only as strong as the citizens allow it to be. If people do not make complaints the Lokayukta would have little work since it cannot take up any case sou-moto. During the tenure of Justice Mushahary several cases were taken up pertaining to illegal coal mining and transportation. The Lokayukta then had become a thorn in the flesh of the MDA government.
The 2014 Act clearly states that the Chairperson of the Lokayukta should be a retired Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court or an eminent person with 25 years of experience in matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management. The members of the Lokayukta too are expected to either be from the judiciary or persons of eminence as required for the appointment of a Lokayukta. The amended Act of June 2021 however, confers discretion on the government to constitute a single or multi-member Lokayukta keeping in mind the size of the state, number of cases and financial implications in maintaining a multi-member Lokayukta. This amendment too came only after the Meghalaya High Court asked the State Government to file an affidavit as to when it would constitute a fully functional Lokayukta. The 2021 amendment to the Meghalaya Lokayukta Act waters down the very purpose of this institution. By appointing a one-man Lokayukta who is a non-judicial person and adding words like ‘person of eminence’ to define a retired bureaucrat which inter-alia is a subjective term the Government has all but defeated the purpose of the Lokayukta.
The MDA Government appointed the Lokayukta only after the Supreme Court directed the State to complete the process of constituting this body at the earliest. Only then did the selection committee comprising the Chief Minister, Speaker of the Assembly, Leader of Opposition, Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court, eminent person nominated by the Governor do their job. The selection committee then nominated a 5-member search committee which zeroed in on the name of Mushahary who retired in May 2021. Following the amended Act the need for a person with judicial background to head the Lokayukta was also done away with. The Lokayukta today is a toothless body that is there only to fulfil mandate set by the supreme court. No government would want a strong Lokayukta. Hence this institution is as good as not being there.
