Updated: October 6, 2020 7:53:50 am
Judge Prafulla Kumar Misra leaves his official residence in Altinho on Monday morning. (Photo Express Smita Nair)
Judge Prafulla Kumar Misra (retired) left Goa on Monday, completely “disenchanted” with the state government that has failed to act on one of the 21 reports he filed against public officials during his nearly four and a half years as Lokayukta. .
“If you ask me in one sentence for my experience dealing with these complaints as Lokayukta in Goa, I will say that they should abolish the institution of Lokayukta,” Judge Misra told The Indian Express.
“Why should public money be spent in vain? If the Lokayukta Law is being thrown away with such force, then it is better to abolish the Lokayukta, ”he said.
Misra, 73, served as Goa Lokayukta from March 18, 2016 to September 16, 2020. Among the public officials he charged were a former Chief Minister and a serving MLA.
Interview with Judge Prafulla Kumar | ‘Either they (the government) do not deliberately read the Law or the advice they are given is not based on a proper reading’
During his tenure, the Lokayukta office received 191 cases, 133 of which were eliminated. Among the 58 pending cases, there are 21 in which he sent reports to the government, but reports of actions taken are still awaited. His recommendations included “the initiation of disciplinary action, transfer, a detailed investigation by the ACB or a declaration that an elected official is unfit to hold the position.”
The Lokayukta Law in its current form “lacks teeth” and “is not good enough for Goa,” Misra said. It does not have the powers of prosecution that the Laws of Karnataka and Kerala have, nor does it have a provision “for the contempt of Lokayukta’s orders,” she said.
“The government never acted on any of the reports,” Misra said. “I was always helpless and I say this to those who come with their complaints. I had no powers to carry out my own orders. “
On the eve of his retirement, his security protocol was withdrawn, Misra said, an act that “came as a surprise” and which he saw as a “rude response to my reports.” (Express Photo by Smita Nair)
In several cases, he had used the verdict in the Lalita Kumari case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the registration of an FIR is mandatory under Section 154 CrPC (recognizable crimes), Misra said. “Many cases (were) coming to Lokayukta where the police were not registering FIR. They kept saying that FIR was registered only after preliminary investigation … I know nothing is going to change. I have no hope. I know they will not act on any of the reports. “
Misra recommended an ACB investigation against MLA Pandurang Madkaikar for disproportionate assets; and an investigation into allegations that ruling party officials were usurping the labor department’s subsidy for stranded migrants.
In another case, he said a cabinet minister was unfit for office. Judge Misra did not even pardon the late Manohar Parrikar for “shirking responsibility” in the investigation of Madkaikar’s assets, as he “served as a minister and member of the MLA belonging to the ruling party.”
On the eve of his retirement, his security protocol was withdrawn, Misra said, an act that “came as a surprise” and which he saw as a “rude response to my reports.”
On Monday, the former Lokayukta left his official residence with his wife Bharati, without the traditional farewell.
One of Misra’s strongest reports was one in which he found former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, former Secretary of Mines Pawan Kumar Sain, and Prasanna Acharya, Director of Mines and Geology “guilty of abuse of power.” They had “hastily liquidated”, without the mandatory controls, 31 files on January 12, 2015, the same day that an Ordinance went into effect that allowed leasing only by auction.
Earlier this year, after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that he had rejected Misra’s report, the Lokayukta addressed a special report under Section 16 (3) of the Act to Governor Satya Pal Malik.
“They give opinions without reading the Law, and I sent again the details of the sections and provisions,” Misra recalled about the report, in which he said:
“Only a Dhritarashtra or Gandhari would be unable to perceive anything sinister in what happened on January 12, 2015, and there seems to be no shortage of Dhritarashtra or Gandhari these days, in Mera Bharat Mahan. Otherwise, it also appears that there is no shortage of Shakuni when it comes to giving “proper” advice. ‘Putra Moha’ seems to have been replaced by ‘Moha Party’ or another type of ‘Moha’ in the Public Administration system and shouting from the rooftops about the eradication of corruption, while playing only lip service, when the question of actual crop eradication above. “
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