New Delhi: Dismissing BJP`s opposition to
appointment of Lokayukta by Gujarat Governor bypassing the
Chief Minister, the Centre today said as per the law Governor
is supposed to consult only the Chief Justice of High Court in
the matter and it should be left to the court to decide the
issue.
"The act, as I understand, says the governor will consult
the chief justice. You can`t read things into it," Law
Minister Salman Khurshid said.
He was asked about the objections raised by the BJP in
Parliament on the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat without
consulting the Chief Minister on August 26.
The party had termed the move as "undemocratic" and
demanded recall of Governor Kamla Beniwal accusing her of
violating the federal structure. The state government
challenged the appointment in the high court on the same day
contending that the decision was "unconstitutional and
unilateral".
However, the central government felt there is nothing
wrong in the decision and in case of any dispute, the courts
would take a decision.
"And if the act means something else, says something else,
the courts will decide. How can we decide?" Kurshid said.
Meanwhile, in an apparent attempt to counter BJP
protests on the Lokayukta appointment, a group of nine
Congress MPs staged a demonstration in Parliament House
complex against the Gujarat government for not bringing to
book the killers of Haren Pandya, a former Home Minister of
the state who fell out with Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Protesting at the Mahatma Gandhi statue, the MPs carried
photographs of the slain leader and shouted slogans "Down with
Modi`s dictatorship" and "Advani-Modi are Master-follower".
They demanded Modi`s resignatiom and insisted that the
erstwhile NDA government at the Centre had given the Pandya
murder case to CBI and influenced the agency to weaken the
case.
Pandya was killed in 2003. The Gujarat High Court
yesterday observed that the case had been "botched up,
blinkered and left a lot to be desired".
PTI
