Kamal Ghorui
Panaji: The swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Goa Lokayukta, Sandeep Kashinath Shinde, is scheduled for March 4 at Lok Bhavan, Dona Paula. Shinde was a former justice of the Bombay high court.The Goa Lokayukta was non-functional since the tenure of Bombay HC justice (retd) Ambadas Joshi ended in Dec 2024.Earlier in the day, two names were discussed at the meeting attended by the leader of the opposition, Yuri Alemao.Since the anti-corruption watchdog’s office is inactive, at least 14 cases are pending.State govt appointed Joshi as Lokayukta in April 2021, six months after his predecessor justice (retd) P K Misra’s term ended on Sep 17, 2020.Before the appointment of Joshi as Lokayukta, state govt finalised the name of justice (retd) U V Bakre, but in March 2021, he withdrew his consent, citing personal reasons.After failing to obtain consent to appoint a Supreme Court judge or a retired chief justice of the high court, state govt amended the act so that a retired high court judge could be appointed as the Lokayukta.
