The Madras High Court has held that the Lokayukta cannot refuse to entertain complaints of corruption levelled against Ministers and other public servants by misapplying certain exceptions provided under Section 13 of the Tamil Nadu Lokayukta Act, 2018, with respect to matters that are not subject to inquiry.
The observation was made while allowing a writ petition filed by K.R. Jeyagopi in 2022 against the Lokayukta refusing to entertain his complaint alleging corruption in the procurement of Pongal gift hampers distributed to 2.15 crore ration card holders through the Public Distribution System (PDS) at an outlay of ₹1,296.88 crore.
Justice N. Seshasayee set aside an order passed by the Lokayukta on March 2, 2022, which refused to entertain the writ petitioner’s complaint, and remanded the matter to the anti-corruption body for it to revisit the decision in view of the observations made by the court.
