Tamil Nadu Government Declares That All Lokayukta Inquiries Will Be A Private Affair, In-Camera

The AIADMK government led by Chief Minister E Palaniswami has announced that all procedures before the state's proposed enemy of corruption, the Lokayukta, will be in-camera. This means you will not realise who has blamed whom for corruption or what the charges are. Nothing can be reported in the press or generally uncovered to people in general. Each request by the Lokayukta will be directed in private, reports Times of India.

The state government inserted the contentious section in the tenets confined under the Lokayukta Act. The law was brought in to meet the SC deadline in July.

Administrative reforms minister D Jayakumar asserted, "This is to protect the identity of a complainant against a public functionary. Otherwise, no one will come forward for fear of reprisals. We set up a Lokayukta to eradicate corruption and the main objective will be met.” The government has officially given an undertaking before the apex court of the country that the Lokayukta will begin working from 1 February.

Previous Karnataka Lokayukta, N Santhosh Hegde, said the privacy clause was absurd. “The very concept of openness in judicial administration is taken away by the clause. An inquiry should be conducted in public, but they do not want people to know. This is nothing but trying to hoodwink the people at large. Where is the need for secrecy? Let the people know,” said the former Supreme Court judge.

The move was to conceal all the illegal benefits public functionaries were enjoying, said Hegde. “In Karnataka, the trial is conducted in an open court hall, where lawyers are allowed to represent. People should know who is a criminal,” he said.