Chandigarh, May 24 -- More than seven months after the post of Lokpal fell vacant in Punjab, the state government is yet to appoint a new anti-corruption ombudsman, leaving over 150 complaints either pending or yet to be taken up and raising concerns over the collapse of the state's statutory accountability mechanism.

The vacancy arose following the retirement of justice Vinod Kumar Sharma (retd) on October 8 last year. However, despite repeated assurances from the state government, no successor has been appointed so far.

A senior official in the Lokpal office said the prolonged delay has virtually paralysed the functioning of the institution. "Around 73 complaints are pending since October last year, while nearly 80 complaints received...