Search Committee formed to recommend names for Odisha Lokayukta

ONI Bureau: The long wait is finally over. After the repeated reminders from the Supreme Court, the Odisha Government has finally formed a seven-member committee to recommend names for Odisha Lokayukta. The committee will be headed by Justice Amitava Roy, Retd. SC Judge and former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.

Other members of the committee are Prof Venkata Rao Rambhatla, Sanjib Hota, Dr. Rabi Narayan Bohidar, Gopal Nanda, Dr. Bidhubhusan Samal and Prof. Snigdha Patnaik. The panel will submit its recommendations within a month. The Lokayukta will have a Chairperson and 5 Members.

The decision was taken as a high level meeting chaired by CM Naveen Patnaik, which was attended by Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, Assembly Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat and Chief Justice of Orissa High Court, Justice K S Jhaveri.

The Odisha government had passed a Bill 4 years ago for the appointment of Lokayukta. The President had given his consent to it in 2015. But no Lokayukta has been appointed in the state so far.