A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramana appointed former Allahabad High Court judge Virendra Singh as the new UP Lokayukta, after recording the repeated failure of the state government to comply with the court’s directives — the state government has breached at least three deadlines in the last one year. Snubbing the Akhilesh Yadav government, the court refused to wait any further to enable the three functionaries — the Chief Minster, Leader of Opposition and High Court Chief Justice — to reach an agreement on the new incumbent, and made the appointment straightaway by exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.

The bench noted that despite its various orders since April 2014, the UP government had failed to appoint the new Lokayukta. It said this indicated “the inability of the constitutional authorities” and reflected “a failure, if not recusal, to comply with the orders of the highest court of the land.”

What is Lok Ayukta?

• Lok Ayukta is an anti-corruption ombudsman organization in the Indian states.
• The LokAyukta, along with the Income Tax Department and the Anti Corruption Bureau, mainly helps people publicise corruption among the Politicians and Government Officials.
• Maharashtra was the first state to introduce the institution of Lokayukta through The Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayuktas Act in 1971
• Karnataka Lokayukta is considered as the most powerful Lokayukta in the country.