‘Gujarat government ignored principle of justice’

Though the BJP is agitated over the Gujarat governor’s order appointing former judge RA Mehta as Lok Ayukta “by passing” the state cabinet, there are strong reasons for keeping at bay the executive in making a choice of the ombudsman that would ultimately probe the allegations against it.

Leading lawyer and the party stalwart Ravi Shankar Prasad doesn’t mince words in asserting that “justice not only is done but seen to have been done”. This basic principle of dispensation has been ignored by the governor.

Prasad told DNA that the governor has usurped the powers and that his decision, when viewed in the light of some developments, smacked of bias.

There would be intense arguments on Monday before the Gujarat high court which is already seized of the law suit against the governor’s choice.

On the other hand, a leading union government’s lawyer said,“There’s little to argue in this case as the scheme of Lok Ayukta specifically envisages that the state has no role in his appointment. The governor shall appoint him in consultation with the HC chief Justice.”

In 1997, the apex court held that the legislative intent behind the enactment is to see that the public servants covered by the sweep of the Lok Ayukta Act should be answerable for their actions as such to the ombudsman.