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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Court issues notice to Gujarat government by Manas Dasgupta

Court issues notice to Gujarat government by Manas Dasgupta

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published Published on Aug 19, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 19, 2011

Seeks explanation on why Lokayukta has not been appointed in the State

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Narendra Modi government asking it to explain why no Lokayukta had been appointed in the State so far.

A Division Bench comprising justices Akil Kureshi and Sonia Gokani, issued the notice to the Chief Secretary, asking him to file an affidavit detailing the latest status.

The court notice comes a day after the Cabinet decided to set up a Judicial Enquiry Commission and named the retired judge of the Supreme Court, M. B. Shah, to constitute the panel to probe 15 of the 17 charges (two issues being sub-judice) of corruption levelled against the Chief Minister and some of his Cabinet colleagues by the State Congress in a memorandum submitted to President Pratibha Patil in June this year, seeking her intervention.

The appointment of the Commission, which had been given time till December 31, 2012, to submit its report, well beyond the scheduled elections to the Assembly — the process of which should be completed by the third week of December next year, virtually negate the appointment of the Lokayukta.

While the ruling BJP claimed the appointment of the Commission as “proof” of the Modi government's “transparency in public dealings,” the Congress strongly criticised the measure describing it as an “escape route” for “corrupt Ministers” since the commission would have to confine its probe to the affidavits filed before it and could not investigate issues on its own as the Lokayukta.

“Unconstitutional”

The Court issued the notice on a Public Interest Litigation plea filed by Bhikha Jethava, the father of the slain RTI activist, Amit Jethava.

The petitioner contended that non-appointment of Lokayukta was “illegal and unconstitutional” and also sought the court's directives to the State government to appoint the Lokayukta within a stipulated period in accordance with the State Lokayukta Act in existence for the last two decades.

The last Lokayukta appointed in the State was in 1998 by the then Keshubhai Patel government. The Lokayukta, retired High Court judge S. M. Soni, had resigned from the post in 2003 soon after Mr. Modi led the BJP to a resounding victory in the Assembly elections in December, 2002.

Since then the post has remained vacant, with both the government and the Opposition blaming each other for lack of consensus on a candidate as required under the Act.

As the State government kept dragging its feet, the slain RTI activist filed a PIL plea in April last year, a few months before he was gunned down in front of the High Court, seeking the court's directions for the appointment of a Lokayukta.

Directive issued

The High Court had also accordingly issued a directive, but the government so far had not paid heed to it. This forced the father of the slain RTI activist to move yet another PIL on Wednesday.

# Notice comes a day after Cabinet decides to set up a Judicial Enquiry Commission

# Court issued the notice on a Public Interest Litigation plea


The Hindu, 19 August, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2371203.ece


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