Way back in September 2010, the Government enacted the law of appointment of Ombudsman for the Urban Local Bodies. It is more than two years that appointment hangs fire. The Housing and Urban Development Department and the Law Department are exchanging vicious snarls on the finalization of the names of 7-member panel of Ombudsman that would finally be approved by the government. The two departments are caught in debate over the interpretation of law laying down the criterion for selection of a name as Ombudsman. The Law department, in its wisdom, feels that the panel of seven names suggested by it all meet the criterion as required by law. But this contention is not acceptable to the Housing and Urban Development Department. The controversy rages and is unlikely to be resolved given the cast iron stand taken by the two concerned departments. This is a sort of mess of affairs with the result that the functioning of Urban Local Bodies remains somewhat paralysed. Who is going to settle the score between the two warring departments of the Government? Common sense says that the seniors of the two departments should have entered into mutual consultation before finalizing the panellists. Whatever the background, the Chief Secretary should intervene and resolve the deadlock about the interpretation issue. At the best the advice of the attorney general could be sought to put an end to the controversy of interpreting the law.
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