V. BHASKARA RAO, J.

( 1 ) THESE two writ petitions give rise to the far-reaching question, whether the lokayukta has jurisdiction to conduct preliminary verification into matters touching the All India Service officers. By virtue of Andhra Pradesh Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Act, 1983 (for short the Act 11/83 ), the Institution of lokayukta is established in the State with the prime object of meeting the of expressed public outcry gainst the prevalence of corruption, the existence of wide spread inefficiency and the unresponsiveness of the administration to the popular needs and to provide a machinery in order to examine public complaints and shift the genuine from the false or the untenable so that the administrative failures and achievements could be publicly viewed in their correct perspective.

( 2 ) IT is not disputed that the term preliminary verification as used in the act 11/83 is similar to the expression investigation in the code of Criminal procedure and the term investigation in the Act 11/83 means the expression trial as used in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The State as also the registry of Lokayukta i. e. , respondents 1 and 2 have conceded that the Lokayukta has no power or jurisdiction to conduct investigation into matters relating to All India service Officers. However, the main stress on the issue is that the Lokayukta as per the provisions in Act 11/83 has jurisdiction and is competent to conduct preliminary verification into matters touching All India Service Officers.

( 3 ) TO appreciate the main contentions of the respective parties, it is necessary, at the outset, to have a look at the relevant provisions of Act 11/83.

( 4 ) THE preamble of the Act postulates the intention of legislation to make provision for appointments of Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta for investigation into administrative and allied actions of public authorities in the State of andhra Pradesh. The definitions provision, viz. , Section 2, while defining officer in Section 2 (i), public servant in Section 2 (k) and secretary in Sec. 2 (1) comprehends within its ambit the Principal Secretary, Second Secretary, Special secretary, Joint Secretary to the Government Section 7 of the Act enables the lokayukta to investigate into any action taken by,approved of or at the behest of a Secretary. Section 9 provides for the procedure for making complaints to the Lokayukta. Section 10 prescribes the procedure for investigation, while Section 13 comprehends prosecution for false complaints.

( 5 ) WE come across the definition to the term "preliminary verification in the andhra Pradesh Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta (Investigation) Rules , 1984 framed in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 20 of the Act 11/83. preliminary Verification , according to Rule 2 (viii), means any inquiry or other proceedings conducted by the Lokayukta or Upa-Lokayukta in connection with a complaint or on his own motion for the purpose of satisfying himself as to whether there are any grounds for conducting investigation into such complaint. Rule 5 deals with preliminary verification. After registering the complaint, the Lokayukta may make such preliminary verification, as he deems fit, in regard to the allegations made in the complaint and after affording the concerned officer to meet the allegations and then shall decide whether or not there are sufficient grounds for ordering investigation, and in case prima facie case for conducting investigation into allegations is established, he may issue necessary direction in this regard to the concerned officers of the Institution to take necessary steps in that behalf.

( 6 ) THE petitioners against whom the preliminary verification was conducted by the Lokayukta pursuant to the complaint made by one Madhava Reddy that culminated in the report dated 5-11-1992 of the Lokayukta, are members of All india Service, being I. A. S. Officers and they are firstly aggrieved by the leakage of the verification report

Click Here to Read the rest of this document