Supreme court cancels its own choice, replaces with new appointee as UP Lokayukta
The apex court said Justice Virendra Singh will be replaced as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh with Sanjay Mishra, also a former judge of
the Allahabad High Court.
At a hearing just a few days ago, the Supreme Court had indicated it would pick a new ombudsman after strong objections were raised over
the selected candidate.
"We will deal with Uttar Pradesh," the judges had warned, blaming Akhilesh Yadav's government for misleading them by stating that
Justice Singh had been approved by a committee that included Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the state,
and the senior-most judge in the state, the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, DY Chandrachud.
However, the Chief Justice and the Leader of the Opposition, Swami Prasad Maury said that they had objected to Justice Singh's
candidature, partly because his "questionable" integrity.
After Uttar Pradesh missed multiple deadlines for more than a year to appoint a Lokayukta, leaving the state without an ombudsman to handle
cases of corruption against government officers, the Supreme Court intervened in December and picked Justice Singh from a list of five
nominees that were being considered by the selection committee headed by the Chief Minister.
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