Justice Sanjay Mishra sworn in as new UP Lokayukta

Retired judge of Allahabad high court Justice Sanjay Mishra was on Sunday sworn in as the new Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh bringing to an end a bitter year-long feud between Raj Bhawan and the state government on the appointment of the anti-graft ombudsman.

The new Lokayukta was administered oath by Governor Ram Naik at a brief function at Raj Bhawan.

He would replace justice (retd) N K Mehrotra, who was appointed Lokayukta on March 16, 2006 and had a nearly ten-year-long tenure.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was present at the swearing-in ceremony along with his senior cabinet ministers.

Besides the chief minister, two other members of the selection panel -- Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court D Y Chandrachud and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Swami Prasad Maurya -- were present. Expelled SP leader Amar Singh was also present.

The appointment of Lokayukta had snowballed into a major controversy last year with the Governor refusing to accept the name of Justice (retd) Raveendra Singh and asking the chief minister to follow proper procedure for selecting the ombudsman.

Naik had returned the file concerning the appointment of a new Lokayukta to the state government a number of times citing procedural grounds.

With the apex court breathing down its neck, the UP government had convened two marathon back-to-back meetings of the three-member selection committee last month but failed to arrive at a consensus.

The Supreme Court then appointed Justice Virendra Singh as Lokayukta, but the appointment was later stayed by the apex court itself after it was told by a UP resident Sachidanad Gupta that the state government has played a "fraud upon the apex court" by hiding the fact that the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice had expressed his reservations over his appointment as anti-graft watchdog.

On Friday, the apex court recalled its December 16 order appointing Justice Singh, a former judge of Allahabad High Court as Lokayukta and named another retired judge Justice Sanjay Mishra for the post.