Supreme Court seeks detailed response for not appointing Lokayukta in 12 states and UT including Manipur

Imphal, March 23: Twelve states and Union Territories including the state of Manipur now face another worries as Supreme today sought detail reports for not appointing Lokayukta.
According to reports on All India Radio, the apex court also asked these states to specify by when they would appoint a Lokayukta. The bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R Banumathi directed Chief Secretaries of these states and UTs to file an affidavit on the matter within two weeks and apprise the apex court about it.
The 12 states and UTs which have been asked to give reasons for not appointing a Lokayukta are Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and West Bengal.
Section 63 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, states that every state shall establish a body to be known as the Lokayukta. The apex court was hearing a PIL, which sought a direction to the states to provide adequate budgetary allocation and essential infrastructure for effective functioning of Lokayuktas. The PIL said many state governments are deliberately weakening the Lokayukta by not providing adequate infrastructure, sufficient budget and workforce.