Kolkata: Justice (retd) Rabindranath Samanta was appointed to the post of Lokayukta of Bengal on Monday. He is expected to assume charge soon.
Justice Samanta's name was cleared at a meeting attended by CM Mamata Banerjee and Speaker Biman Banerjee at Nabanna. Leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari skipped the meet.
Justice Samanta, a retired Calcutta High Court judge, is now the chairperson of the WBRERA appellate tribunal. A Nabanna official said once a notification is issued, Justice Samanta needs to resign from his present post and, once that is accepted, only then can he take oath. The oath of office will be administered by Governor C V Ananda Bose. The Lokayukta is a quasi-judicial office to probe corruption complaints against public functionaries. Bengal's Lokayukta Act, 2003 was amended in 2018 and 2023 to modify the appointment process and qualifications of the Lokayukta's office, an official said. Bengal's first Lokayukta was Justice Samaresh Banerjee, who was in office between 2006 and 2009.
The next Lokayukta was Justice Ashim Kumar Roy, another retired HC judge who took office in Nov 2018. Justice Roy was reappointed for a second term in May 2022. The state govt appointed Justice Samanta as the term of Justice Roy was over.
An official said: "The Lokayukta Act provides the institution of Lokayukta to investigate the complaints by citizens against public functionaries in Bengal alleging corrupt practices by them and for matters directly connected therewith. Following the new amendments, the CM is now part of the selection panel for the Lokayukta, and it also removed the post of a Upa-Lokayukta. Even the CM was excluded from the Lokayukta's purview except in special cases which needed approval from the state assembly. However, a Lokayukta cannot function beyond 70 years of age."
Meanwhile, the CM and Speaker decided to reappoint Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya as chairperson of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission and Justice Madhumati Mitra as a member of the commission for another term of three years.