HC says Lokayukta cannot direct a CBI probe

Pioneer News Service
Ranchi

The Jharkhand High Court has ruled that the Lokayukta does not have the authority to direct central agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the Accountant General to conduct investigations, while dismissing a petition challenging a 2012 order passed by former Jharkhand Lokayukta Justice (Retd.) Amreshwar Sahay.

Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi rejected a writ petition filed by Satyadeo Roy, who had sought to quash the Lokayukta’s order declining to order a CBI or Accountant General probe into alleged irregularities linked to a Ranchi University fund embezzlement case. The petitioner had argued that the Jharkhand Lokayukta Act, 2001 empowered the Lokayukta to direct investigations by central agencies.

The court, however, held that the Act permits the Lokayukta to seek assistance only from officers or investigating agencies of the state government and not from central agencies such as the CBI. It found no illegality in the impugned order and observed that the petitioner had failed to establish any bias on the part of the former Lokayukta.

Roy had also alleged that Justice Sahay violated his oath of office by deciding a complaint involving his own brother instead of delegating the matter. Rejecting the contention, the High Court held that the Lokayukta is a single-member statutory institution and its core adjudicatory functions cannot be delegated under Section 19 of the Act.

Invoking the doctrine of necessity, Justice Dwivedi observed that since no alternative decision-maker existed within the institution, the Lokayukta was required to decide the matter himself. The court further noted that the order did not confer any benefit on Justice Sahay’s brother and was based solely on statutory limitations.

Concluding that the allegations of bias were unsubstantiated and that the former Lokayukta’s order was legally valid, the High Court dismissed the writ petition and disposed of all pending applications.