In a significant development, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has withdrawn its previous adverse remarks made against the Lokayukta in a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the alleged embezzlement of over ₹1 crore in government funds.
A division bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh passed the order on Tuesday, further directing that the Lokayukta’s name be deleted from the array of opposite parties and substituted with that of the Up-Lokayukta.
Background of the Dispute
The legal proceedings stem from a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Mohammad Salim, which highlighted serious allegations of financial irregularities in Lakhimpur Kheri.
According to the petition, Gram Vikas Adhikari Ahmad Hasan, while posted in Lakhimpur Kheri, allegedly transferred ₹6,02,995 of government funds into the personal bank account of Furqan Ali, a Class-4 employee. Following a departmental inquiry into this initial transaction, Hasan was awarded a minor departmental punishment on June 8, 2020. This penalty included the stoppage of an increment and an adverse entry in his service record.
The petitioner contended that the mild nature of the departmental punishment failed to deter the official. Salim alleged that, emboldened by the lack of severe consequences, Hasan subsequently executed a far larger transaction on April 10, 2023, transferring ₹95,94,015 of public funds into Ali’s personal account.
Closure of Complaint and High Court’s Intervention
When no action was taken following the second alleged transaction, a complaint was formally lodged with the Lokayukta. The complaint was subsequently transferred to the Up-Lokayukta for investigation.
However, the Up-Lokayukta closed the complaint, observing that the Gram Vikas Adhikari had already faced departmental punishment in a similar matter on a prior occasion.
Taking note of these serious allegations and the subsequent closure of the probe, the Allahabad High Court on March 16 expressed strong surprise and issued directions seeking formal responses from the Uttar Pradesh government, the Lokayukta, and other opposite parties. It was during this March 16 hearing that the court recorded the adverse remarks against the Lokayukta.
The Submission and Court’s Analysis
In compliance with the court’s directions, the state government, the Lokayukta, and other respondents submitted their respective replies.
In its response, the Lokayukta clarified the administrative division of the case, submitting that the order relating to Furqan Ali and the closure of the complaint was not passed by the Lokayukta, but was instead handled and decided independently by the Up-Lokayukta.
Based on this clarification, the Lokayukta argued that the adverse observations recorded by the High Court in its March 16 order were unwarranted and requested their recall.
Upon analyzing the submissions and verifying that the order in question was indeed passed by the Up-Lokayukta, the division bench agreed that the previous remarks against the Lokayukta should be recalled.
The Decision
The division bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh formally withdrew the adverse remarks made against the Lokayukta in the March 16 order.
The court further directed:
- The deletion of the Lokayukta’s name from the array of opposite parties.
- The substitution of the Lokayukta’s name with that of the Up-Lokayukta.
The high court has scheduled the PIL for its next hearing on July 10, where the merits of the allegations concerning the misuse of government funds will be further examined.
