The Arunachal Pradesh government on Thursday constituted the state Lokayukta appointing former judge of Gauhati High Court, Justice P.K. Saikia, as its chairperson.
Justice P.K. Saikia took oath as the chairman of the state Lokayukta of Arunachal Pradesh in a function held at the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan, Itanagar.
Yeshi Tsering, a retired IAS officer, was also sworn-in as a member of the state Lokayukta.
Arunachal Pradesh governor Brig (Retd) B. D. Mishra administered the oath of office to Saikia and Tsering.
First Lady Neelam Misra, chief minister Pema Khandu, deputy chief minister Chowna Mein, cabinet ministers, former chief minister, Nabum Tuki and several other senior officers of the state government were present on the occasion.
The Lokayukta is an anti-corruption ombudsman organization and once appointed, it cannot be dismissed nor transferred by the government. It can only be removed by passing an impeachment motion by the state assembly.
The Arunachal Pradesh Assembly had on March 4, 2014 passed the Lokayukta Bill to pave way for establishing the anti-corruption ombudsman in the state.
Congratulating Saikia and Tsering chief minister Khandu tweeted, “A historic day for Arunachal in its fight against corruption! Congratulations to Hon’ble Justice Prasanta Kumar Saikia Ji (retd) and Shri Yeshi Tsering Ji IAS (retd) on having taken oath today as Chairperson and member of Lokayukta, Arunachal respectively.”