New Delhi:
Narendra Modi's Gujarat government has moved the Supreme Court against a High Court order upholding the appointment of retired judge RA Mehta as the Lokayukta or ombudsman of the state.
Justice Mehta was appointed by the Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal in August last year and Chief Minister Modi had moved the state's High Court against the appointment saying the Governor had acted unconstitutionally in selecting the Lokayukta without consulting the state government. The High Court gave its order yesterday, upholding the appointment as valid and constitutional and harshly reprimanding Mr Modi. (Read:
Narendra Modi takes Lokayukta battle to Supreme Court)
Here is the Gujarat Lokayukta case explained in five points.
1) In August 2011, Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal appointed Justice Mehta as the Lokayukta, after over seven years of the position lying vacant. The same day, the state government moved the High Court against the appointment; Mr Modi contends that the Governor acted unconstitutionally in selecting the ombudsman because the state government was not consulted. In October, two High Court judges delivered a split verdict, and the case was referred to a third judge, Justice VM Sahai, who delivered his verdict yesterday.
2) Chief Minister Modi also raised a political hue and cry. He wrote to the Prime Minister last year seeking that the Governor be recalled. Mr Modi's fight against the Lokayukta has been backed by his party's senior leaders like LK Advani who have also protested in Parliament over Justice Mehta's appointment. They say that the Centre used the Governor to bypass the state government in an alleged breach of federal principles. The BJP referred to Article 163 of the Constitution which states that the Governor of a state must act on the advice of the Council of Ministers. "It raises issues of concern with relation to the federal polity. The Governor is a nominee of the central government. It means giving preference to the central nominee over the elected state government in the matter of appointing the Lokayukta," said senior BJP leader and eminent lawyer Arun Jaitley said yesterday.
3) While delivering his order yesterday, Gujarat High Court judge Justice Sahai said, "The Chief Minister acted under a false impression that he could turn down the superiority and primacy of the opinion of the Chief Justice which was binding. The spiteful and challenging action demonstrates the false sense of invincibility." Justice Sahai also said that the Chief Minister's recent attempts to amend how the Lokayukta is chosen were "depraved and truculent actions." The BJP government in Gujarat has suggested changing the rules to involve the opinion of the Chief Minister and council of ministers.
(Read full text of the court order). 4) Gujarat last had a Lokayukta in 2003, when SM Soni retired. The Governor has said she appointed Justice Mehta using her discretionary powers last year after repeatedly asking the state government to fill the vacant post. Existing rules say that the Governor appoints the Lokayukta in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court. The state government has been arguing that instead, the Governor must consult a committee that includes the Chief Minister, three ministers, the Leader of the Opposition Congress party, and the state's Chief Justice. The Governor had rejected that proposal.
5) Reactions have been varied. Keeping a long distance from the controversy is the man at the centre of it all, Justice Mehta, who would merely say after his appointment was upheld by the High Court and that, "There should be a Lokayukta in every state."
But the Congress has much to say. In Lucknow, party General Secretary Digvijaya Singh said, "We are happy that after 11 years, Lokayukta has come to Gujarat. There are many more shocks on the way for Narendra Modi." He also took the opportunity to slam anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare and said, "Anna Hazare never agitated in Gujarat for Lokayukta. In fact, he praised Narendra Modi."
Gujarat government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas, however, said," No legal judgment is a victory or a setback...it is just a judgment". He said that the government had never been opposed to the appointment of a Lokayukta, but had gone to court since the issue touched Constitutional provisions like federalism.