Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
The Supreme Court has cancelled the choice it made for the Lokayukta or ombudsman of Uttar Pradesh in December, and has selected a new appointee today.
The top court said
Justice Virendra Singh will be replaced as Lokayukta of India's most populous state with Sanjay Mishra, also a former judge of the Allahabad High Court.
At a hearing just a few days ago, the Supreme Court had indicated it would pick a new ombudsman after strong objections were voiced to the candidate it selected just a month ago.
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We will deal with Uttar Pradesh," the judges had warned, blaming Akhilesh Yadav's government for misleading them by stating that Justice Singh had been approved by a committee that included Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the state, and the senior-most judge in the state, the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, DY Chandrachud.
However, the Chief Justice and the Leader of the Opposition, Swami Prasad Maury of Mayawati's BSP, revealed that they had objected to Justice Singh's candidature, partly because they said his integrity is questionable.
After Uttar Pradesh missed multiple deadlines for more than a year to appoint a Lokayukta, leaving the state without an ombudsman to handle cases of corruption against government officers, the Supreme Court intervened in December and picked Justice Singh from a list of five nominees that were being considered by the selection committee headed by the Chief Minister.