Kolkata: Retired Justice Rabindranath Samanta will be the new Lokayukta of West Bengal. His name has been recommended by a panel chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. His appointment will be made by the Governor, following which he will take the oath.
The state government’s selection committee approved the appointment. The Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari who is also a member of the Lokayukta Committee did not attend the meeting. Following the protocol, an official invitation had been sent to Suvendu Adhikari’s office, sources said.
Justice Samanta, who retired as Calcutta High Court judge in June 2023, succeeded Justice (Retired) Ashim Kumar Roy, who served as Lokayukta from November 2018 and continued till August 2025, after a two-year extension granted in 2023. Samanta had joined the West Bengal Real Estate Appellate Tribunal as its chairperson in March last year. Adhikari boycotted the meeting for the fourth consecutive year. Despite receiving the formal invitation sent every year as per convention, Adhikari stayed away, reiterating his refusal to sit with the Chief Minister.
The ruling Trinamool Congress, however, dismissed the boycott as a calculated political stunt. “They talk about fighting corruption but skip meetings on Lokayukta appointments. This is the BJP’s double standard,” a senior Trinamool Congress leader said.