CHENNAI : A PIL has been filed in the Madras High Court challenging certain provisions of the Tamil Nadu Lokayukta Act, 2018 relating to nomination of members for the selection panel. When the petition from advocate S Yoganathan came up on Monday, a division bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad, after listening to the preliminary arguments of Advocate-General Vijay Narayan, posted the matter for further hearing on April 29.
Justice P Devadass, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, has been appointed as the chairman of the Lokayukta in the first week of this month. The petitioner contended that the TN Lokayukta Act is in total repugnance with relevant provisions of the Central Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013.
The selection panel comprised only political persons - the Chief Minister, Assembly Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition Party or the Leader of a Single Largest party in the Assembly - which was outrageously illegal.