Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul returns file on Lokayukta's appointment

Dehradun: Uttarakhand's Governor KK Paul has returned a file related to the appointment of Lokayukta to the state government here and asked it to start the process again by following appropriate rules and regulations.

The Office of the Governor, after examining the file, returned it to the state government on August 26, said an official.

The state government had last month sent the names finalised by the selection committee and the search committee to the governor.

The task of the search and the selection committee was to suggest names of suitable candidates for the post of Lokayukta and its members.

In 2011, the Lokayukta Bill, introduced by the then Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri government, was passed in the state assembly and then it was given the nod of President Pranab Mukherjee. However in 2012, the Vjay Bahuguna-led congress government scrapped it stating flaws in some of the provisions of the Bill and had introduced a new Lokayukta law.

The post of the Lokayukta has been lying vacant for months even after the new law.

The BJP however, in a memorandum to the governor, had questioned the selection procedure and had accused that a member in the search committee was allegedly involved in PF scam in Ghaziabad.