New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI): The Gujarat Government on Thursday approached the Supreme Court challenging a High Court order upholding the governor’s decision to appoint Justice R A Mehta as the Lokayukta of the state.
While upholding the appointment of retired judge Mehta as the Lokayukta, Justice VM Sahai of the high court had said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s “pranks” had sparked a “constitutional mini crisis”.
Justice Sahai, who was hearing the petition against Justice Mehta’s appointment after a two-member bench came out with a split opinion on October 11, said Modi's ”questionable” conduct of “stonewalling” the appointment threatened the rule of law.
There was no good reason to reject the name of Justice Mehta once the Chief Justice had overturned the objections of the Chief Minister, he said.
Modi had insisted that Justice J R Vora be appointed as Lokayukta but the Chief Justice had pointed out that the judge had been appointed as the Director of the Gujarat State Judicial Academy. If the Chief Minister's choice had been accepted, it would have set a “pernicious trend” and would have propitiated the public functionaries who were likely to fall within the scanner of Lokayukta and destroyed the integrity of the institution as envisaged, Justice Sahai said.
Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal had appointed Justice Mehta to the post of Lokayukta on August 25. The post had been lying vacant for the last eight years.
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