AAP came to power demanding Lokpal but no Lokayukta in Delhi since December 2020: Ashwini Upadhyay moves Delhi High Court

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking direction to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to appoint a Lokayukta in Delhi, a post which has been lying vacant since December 2020 [Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v Union of India and Others]..The petition has been filed by Supreme Court lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Upadhyay asking the Court to pass directions to fill the post within a month..Upadhyay has argued that the AAP sprung to power following the Anna Hazare movement which was centred around the demand for the appointment of an independent Lokpal and though the promise has been repeated in the party’s election manifestos of 2013, 2015 and 2020 the national capital has been without a corruption watchdog since the retirement of Justice (Retd) Reva Khetrapal.“Petitioner also submits that State Government is not willing to weed-out mafias including land mafia, drug mafia, liquor mafia, mining mafia, medicine mafia, hospital mafia, gold mafia, transfer-posting mafia, betting mafia, tender mafia, hawala mafia, school mafia, coaching mafia, illegal immigration mafia, conversion mafia, superstition and black magic mafia and white-collar mafias, who divide society on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth. Therefore, being protector of fundamental rights, this Hon'ble Court may direct the Government to appoint the Lokayukta within one month,” the petition said..Upadhyay has argued that the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) have not taken any steps to regulate the functioning of the political parties and to regulate their manifestos therefore “the Court is the only hope of citizens”.The petition referred to India’s dismal ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index to argue that none of the welfare schemes of the government are free from corruption and therefore the country has ranked the worst on several other parameters as well.“Petitioner submits that the fulcrum of democracy is the fair electoral process. If the integrity of the electoral process is compromised then the notion of representation becomes vacuous. Political parties are promising irrational freebies but not fulfilling essential promises. So, the danger to democracy and the Indian republic cannot be gained,” the plea said.