NEW DELHI: In an
unprecedented move, Lokayukta Justice Manmohan Sarin has sent a special
report to Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna indicting chief minister Sheila Dikshit for violating norms of integrity and conduct by issuing a misleading message to woo poor voters in the run-up to the 2008 MCD elections.
He wants this report to be forwarded to the President. Dikshit had
allegedly said that 60,000 EWS houses were "ready" to be allotted when
they hadn't even been built.
Significantly, the Lokayukta had earlier sent a report to President Pratibha Patil with his recommendations . She, however, gave a clean chit to the CM, pointing out that there was no evidence of any malafide intention on her part. Instead, the President had observed that the urban development department had not been careful in releasing the brochure relating to construction of these houses and directed it to be cautious in future.
The Lokayukta has now argued in his special report that the President was not properly advised about the facts of the case. "It was neither the case of the complainant nor the urban development department or its officers. The CM had duly owned her message and had not claimed that the department was responsible for this. She had rather justified the message," the report states. "The matter be sent, in the first instance , to the President of India for reconsideration and administration of caution to the CM as originally recommended, failing which, it be placed before the Delhi assembly."
The Lokayukta has claimed that the processing of his report was in violation of "prescribed statutory procedure" . Under the rules, the competent authority is supposed to take action on the basis of the report which has all evidence, defence, submission and findings. The Lokayukta Act does not provide for a further inquiry or comments from indicted persons or government departments . But in this case the comments of the state government were taken into account.
In November 2009, the Lokayukta had received a complaint that the CM had misrepresented to the public on the eve of assembly elections that 60,000 houses under the Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojna were ready and the process of allotment was to commence . The complaint had alleged that the misrepresentation was in the message under the name of the CM along with her photograph.
The CM had in her defence before the Lokayukta alleged that the complaint was part of a political conspiracy by a rival party (read BJP) to tarnish her image. She had alleged the complainant had wrongly translated the message to give it a wrong meaning and the correct translation was that the houses were to be constructed.
Significantly, the Lokayukta had earlier sent a report to President Pratibha Patil with his recommendations . She, however, gave a clean chit to the CM, pointing out that there was no evidence of any malafide intention on her part. Instead, the President had observed that the urban development department had not been careful in releasing the brochure relating to construction of these houses and directed it to be cautious in future.
The Lokayukta has now argued in his special report that the President was not properly advised about the facts of the case. "It was neither the case of the complainant nor the urban development department or its officers. The CM had duly owned her message and had not claimed that the department was responsible for this. She had rather justified the message," the report states. "The matter be sent, in the first instance , to the President of India for reconsideration and administration of caution to the CM as originally recommended, failing which, it be placed before the Delhi assembly."
The Lokayukta has claimed that the processing of his report was in violation of "prescribed statutory procedure" . Under the rules, the competent authority is supposed to take action on the basis of the report which has all evidence, defence, submission and findings. The Lokayukta Act does not provide for a further inquiry or comments from indicted persons or government departments . But in this case the comments of the state government were taken into account.
In November 2009, the Lokayukta had received a complaint that the CM had misrepresented to the public on the eve of assembly elections that 60,000 houses under the Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojna were ready and the process of allotment was to commence . The complaint had alleged that the misrepresentation was in the message under the name of the CM along with her photograph.
The CM had in her defence before the Lokayukta alleged that the complaint was part of a political conspiracy by a rival party (read BJP) to tarnish her image. She had alleged the complainant had wrongly translated the message to give it a wrong meaning and the correct translation was that the houses were to be constructed.
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