The Himachal Pradesh assembly Friday referred to a house select committee the Lokayukta bill, which will give the ombudsman special powers to have independent inquiry and prosecution wings.The Himachal Pradesh Lokayukta Act of 2014, listed for passing, was introduced in the house Feb 19.Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the bill, which will repeal the existing Himachal Pradesh Lokayukta Bill of 1983, should be referred to a select committee for consideration."We want to place a stronger Lokayukta with some more amendments in the existing bill," he said.He said the government would call a special session of the house to pass the Lokayukta bill.Earlier, participating in the debate, Congress legislator Asha Kumar said the bill needed to be strengthened and should be referred to the select committee.The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which opposed the bill, was absent from the house when the bill was introduced.
Official sources told IANS the government didn't want to pass the bill in the absence of the opposition.Later talking to reporters, leader of opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal said the Lokayukta bill was legally flawed.He said the bill contradicts section 197(1) of CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code), section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 311 of the constitution."The provisions in the bill could be challenged in the court of law," the former chief minister added.Dhumal said the party would give its opinion on the bill to the select committee.The budget session with 14 sittings adjourned sine die.Lokayukta jurisdiction will cover all categories of public servants, posted within and outside the state and brings even the chief minister within its purview.From the existing one-member Lokayukta, the bill proposes a three-member body, comprising a chairperson and maximum of two members, of which one shall be a judicial person."The Lokayukta will constitute an inquiry wing headed by the director of inquiry for conducting preliminary probe into any offence committed by a public servant," says the bill.The inquiry wing will have all the powers of a civil court like summoning any person and requisitioning any public record.The prosecution wing, headed by the director of prosecution, after having been so directed by the Lokayukta, can file a case in a special court.