Gujarat Assembly passes new Lokayukta Bill
PrintListen to this Article
The controversial new Gujarat Lokayukta Bill, which curtails the primacy of the Governor and Chief Justice of the High Court in appointment of the anti-corruption ombudsman, was on Tuesday passed by the Assembly amid protests from the opposition Congress.
Congress dubbed the Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill, 2013 as a ploy by the Narendra Modi government to keep corruption under wraps. The legislation was passed by majority vote after Congress walked out of the House.
Apart from curtailing the power of the Governor and the Chief Justice, the bill's character has remained same as the existing Lokayukta Act 1986, which has been held as a "toothless piece of legislation" by some legal experts.
The Bill passed two years after Governor Kamala Beniwal returned a Lokayukta amendment bill, proposes to give all the powers of the appointment to a selection committee headed by Chief Minister and wants the Governor to act on its recommendations. The Chief Justice virtually has no role under the new bill.
Under the existing Lokayukta Act, the power of selection of Lokayukta rests with Governor and the Chief Justice of the state High Court.
The new Bill came after the state government lost a bitter fight legally and politically when Governor Kamala Beniwal, bypassing the state government, appointed Justice R A Mehta as the state Lokayukta which was upheld by the High Court as well as Supreme Court in January this year.
The apex court had ruled that "primacy" of the opinion of the Chief Justice in the Lokayukta Act was final.
The existing Lokayukta Act and the Lokayukta Aayog Bill both have given power to Lokayukta to merely report their findings to competent authorities, but they have no power to take penal actions.
Leader of Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela opposed the Bill, saying "the state government is afraid that Lokayukta Justice Mehta will expose the corruption of the government". Vaghela alleged the bill is just a delaying tactic so that they do not have to appoint Justice R A Mehta as Lokayukta.
As per the provision (Sec 12(8)), whoever discloses to the public or to the press any information or publishes such information in contravention of the provisions of this section should invite two years' imprisonment and also the fine of Rs 2 lakh.
PTI
Category : General | Comments : 0 | Hits : 230
Retirement fund body EPFO has said it will no longer use Aadhaar as a valid document for proof of date of birth. In an official circular on January 16, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said the decision to remove Aadhaar was taken following a directive from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). As per the circular, Aadhaar is also being removed from the list of documents for correction in date of birth.
A five-day-long Special Parliament Session will be held from Monday. A Parliamentary Bulletin said, that on the first day a discussion on the Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha - Achievements, Experiences, Memories, and Learnings will be held in Lok Sabha. The Government has listed Bill on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner, and other election commissioners in the upcoming Parliament Session. Apart from this The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, Th...
Artificial intelligence can substitute neither the human intelligence nor the humane element in the adjudicatory process, the Delhi high court has held and said ChatGPT can't be the basis of adjudication of legal or factual issues in a court of law. Justice Prathiba M Singh stated that the accuracy and reliability of AI generated data is still in the grey area and at best, such a tool can be utilised for a preliminary understanding or for preliminary research. The court's observati...
Domain + Website + Hosting + 2 email ids @ Just Rs.3100/- with 30 days Money Back Guarantee. CASANSAAR offers a Golden opportunity for Professionals, where they could create their own stunning website with multiple designs and templates to choose. It will be completely your own space, which is going to be a Dynamic Website and could be edited as per your wish. Now Get 2 Email ID's with Your Own Websi...
The Delhi High Court Monday sought the Centre’s stand in a plea against a notification where chartered accountants, company secretaries and cost accountants have been included among “reporting entities” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula granted time to Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, who appeared for the Centre, to “seek instructions” and listed the ma...
Comments