Journalism of Courage
The Gujarat Assembly Tuesday passed a new Lokayukta Bill that curbs the power of the governor and the high court chief justice in appointing the head of the anti-corruption watchdog and instead leaves it to the recommendation of a selection panel headed by the chief minister.
The new bill was drafted after the Supreme Court dismissed in January the state governments review petition against a high court ruling which had upheld the appointment of Justice (retd) R A Mehta as lokayukta by Governor Kamala Beniwal. The state government last week filed a curative petition against that ruling.
That decision had given primacy to the opinion of the chief justice of the Gujarat High Court despite opposition from the council of ministers. Under the new bill,the HC chief justice has to just nominate a HC judge to the selection panel.
The Congress opposed the new bill saying the BJP government was making the law to prevent the appointment of Mehta and walked out of the house. But the state government said Mehta would remain a part of the new lokayukta even though it did not make it clear who would head it.
The new bill has been made on the lines of the Lokpal Bill proposed by the Central government,which has the PM as chairperson of the selection committee and has the opposition leader,a SC judge,and vigilance commissioner, said Finance Minister Nitin Patel,who presented the bill on behalf of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Although the new bill gives the lokayukta a fixed time frame of six months to investigate cases,the council of ministers headed by the CM will have the final say on what action can be taken against ministers or the CM if the agency has probed them.
The panel to select the lokayukta will be headed by the chief minister and include a high court judge nominated by the chief justice,the Assembly speaker,a minister from the council of ministers,the leader of opposition in the Assembly and the state vigilance commissioner. Further,the chief justice has to consult five senior judges of the HC before appointing a judge to the panel.
The bill also says that the selection panel,if needed,can appoint a search committee comprising of at least three and not more than five eminent persons.
The BJP government called Mehta an activist and had problems with his appointment. They were fighting a legal case against the same and were losing it and have now brought a new bill, said Congress legislature party leader Shankersinh Vaghela.
But former minister of state for home,Amit Shah,said that there was nothing wrong in the government making a new law as the case in the Supreme Court was only about the procedure of appointment of Mehta. According to the new bill Mehta will be included in the Lokayukta Aayog, Shah said.
