Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot (Express photo by Amit Mehra)Reversing another decision of the former Vasundhara Raje government, the Ashok Gehlot government on Thursday issued a notification to reduce the tenure of the Lokayukta to five years from eight years.
In March last year, the Raje government had extended Lokayukta S S Kothari’s tenure by three years by amending the Rajasthan Lokayukta and Up-Lokayukta Act, 1973, via an ordinance. The move came days before the culmination of Kothari’s five-year tenure.
On Wednesday, Governor Kalyan Singh promulgated an Ordinance reversing the decision, and the notification was issued Thursday. The notification effectively ends the tenure of Kothari, a former Judge of the Rajasthan High Court.
A statement from the Lokayukta office said Kothari’s tenure between 24 March, 2013 and 6 March, 2019 was the most fruitful in the Lokayukta Secretariat’s 45-year history. As many as 28,581 complaints were received from common citizens and 28,524 were disposed of. The Lokayukta took cognizance of media reports and initiated action in 180 cases. Preliminary inquiry was conducted in 291 cases and administrative action was initiated against public servants in 476 cases.
