Another cabinet minister of the Mayawati government has come under the scanner of the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta for alleged misuse of office.
Virtually driven against the wall following indictment by Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra, state animal husbandry and dairy development minister Avadhpal Singh Yadav on Wednesday put in his papers, an official spokesman said in Lucknow.
In further embarrassment for Chief Minister Mayawati, Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta has now recommended removal of a junior minister, the fifth member of her ministry to be indicted by the anti-corruption ombudsman.
Former Bahujan Samaj Party minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, indicted in the memorial scam, on Tuesday questioned the legal status of the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asserted law would take its own course in the matter.
Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta has launched an inquiry against yet another minister in the Mayawati government for alleged misuse of office, just days after the ombudsman recommended sacking of the fifth member of her ministry.
The SC recalled its earlier order appointing controversial Justice Virendra Singh as UP Lokayukta and named retired judge Sanjay Mishra as the new ombudsman.
Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra on Tuesday recommended an inquiry by an independent agency, including Central Bureau of Investigation or Enforcement Directorate, against former sports minister Ayodhya Prasad Pal in a disproportionate assets case.
In a jolt to former Chief Minister Mayawati, the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta has said public money worth Rs 1,400 crore was siphoned off in construction of memorials during her regime and indicted 199 people including her close aide and former BSP minister Naseemuddi Siddiqui.
The wait continues for the naming of a new Uttar Pradesh lokayukta as a meeting on Sunday to decide on the same failed to do so with the Allahabad high court chief justice questioning the validity of the process.
Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta indicted 199 government officials, including two ministers, in the Rs 1,410 cr memorial scam. However, the omission of then chief minister Mayawati from the list has raised eyebrows. Sharat Pradhan reports
As a judge of special Central Bureau of Investigation court, Yadav had on September 30, 2020 acquitted all the 32 accused, including BJP veterans LK Advani, M M Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh, in the case of demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Taking serious note of indictment by the Lokayukta, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday dropped one of her ministers charged with graft.
The minister wrote he had not said anything against the dignity of the post, however, if dignity of the post was hurt due to wrong selection of words by him, he apologises for it, they said.
Retired Allahabad HC Justice Sanjay Mishra was sworn in as the new Lokayukta of UP bringing to an end a bitter year-long feud between Raj Bhawan and the state government.
The cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav decided to keep the Lokayukta out of the purview of the RTI Act, a senior official said.
A whistle-blower, who dared to make a complaint to the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta against a minister, is now being hounded by the latter. Literally terrorised by the minister's sustained intimidation, the whistle-blower is now on the run.
When the governor and chief justice objected to his choice, the UP chief minister just changed the law.
The Lokayukta has found Siddiqui, who is also Bahujan Samaj Party's general secretary and leader of the opposition in the state legislative council (Vidhan Parishad), prima facie guilty of amassing assets far disproportionate to his known and legitimate sources of income.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav got Justice N K Mehrotra an extension of two years, nearly a week after he had completed his full-term as UP Lokayukta. Sharat Pradhan reports.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta recommended his dismissal on charges of owning disproportionate assets, Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday sacked Secondary Education Minister Rangnath Misra and Labour Minister Badshah Singh, who too is under the scanner of the anti-graft ombudsmen. Cracking the whip, the chief minister has also ordered a vigilance inquiry against the two ministers. Both the ministers have been asked to fight the graft cases in court.
Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Monday following uproar by Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party members on incidents of firing on lawyers by state revenue officials in Uttar Pradesh and the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat.
In a major embarrassment for the Uttar Pradesh government, the SC on Wednesday appointed retired judge Justice Virender Singh as the state's Lokayukta.
The Supreme Court on Monday rapped the Uttar Pradesh government for not appointing Lokayukta in the state despite its directions and ordered compliance by December 16, saying it seemed that appointing authorities have their "own agenda".
Allahabad high court Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for putting the name of Justice (retd) Virendra Singh in the list sent to Supreme Court for appointment of Lokayukta, and also for "failing" to inform the apex court that a panel had "nearly reached" an understanding on a name.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav received a jolt on Tuesday when Governor Ram Naik finally rejected his recommendation for the appointment of the state's Lokayukta.
The appointment of former judge of Allahabad High Court Justice Virendra Singh as Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta was on Saturday put on hold after the Supreme Court held a special sitting on a holiday and posed embarrassing questions to the Samajwadi Party government, which was accused of concealing facts and "playing fraud".
Claiming that the SP supremo had threatened him with dire consequences, Amitabh Thakur sought protection from the Centre.
The stalemate over the appointment continues as UP CM Akhilesh Yadav recommends same name to Ram Naik for the fourth time in 20 days.
In a rebuttal to state Lokayukta's recommendation for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe against her most trusted and powerful multi-portfolio minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday sought to point out that the nature of the charges against the minister did not merit such a probe.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday sacked Small-Scale Industry Minister Chadradeo Ram Yadav, who was indicted by the state Lokayukta. "In consultations with the CM, Governor B L Joshi has relieved the minister from his post with immediate effect," a notification issued by the state government said. In his report submitted to the government on December 28 last year, the Lokayukta had indicted the minister for drawing salary from two places.
As Parliament takes up the debate on the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, on Tuesday, the Congress party will try to ensure three things.
The government on Wednesday night exuded confidence to get the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, despite not having a clear majority.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday ordered a vigilance probe against former Bahujan Samaj Party minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui and his wife in connection with a disproportionate assets case after Lokayukta recommendations.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati's close aide Naseemuddin Siddiqui and former minister Babu Singh Kushwaha were among the 19 people booked on Wednesday for their alleged role in the Rs 1,400 crore scam in the construction of Dalit memorials and parks in Uttar Pradesh.
The complaint alleges that Thakur misused his position as IG and both, he and his wife, possessed properties disproportionate to their income.
Bharatiya Janata Party veterans like Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh and V K Malhotra may be accommodated as governors as their names are doing the rounds for appointment in gubernatorial posts in key states like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana.
'What are the circumstances at that time? Had you thought Modi will come after Vajpayee?'
Fate of more than ten Governors, including Karnataka's H R Bhardwaj and Punjab's Shivraj V Patil, appointed by the outgoing UPA government hangs in balance with indications that the new dispensation may politely ask them to vacate the Raj Bhavans.
Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal, who had frosty relations with Narendra Modi when he was chief minister of the state, was tonight sent off to Mizoram in a reshuffle of governors effected by the government.
State BJP spokesman Keshav Upadhya termed it as "vendetta politics", while former chief minister Fadnavis said this would not impact his plans to travel and meet people.
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