Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress on Tuesday appealed to Governor Kamla Beniwal not to give her sanction to the newly-passed Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill 2013, which the party said is "ultra vires" to the Constitution.
"Looking at the various provisions of this bill, it clearly spells that the proposed Aayog will remain merely on paper and there is no possibility of independent and neutral probe under it," says the memorandum, which was submitted to the Governor by a delegation of Gujarat Congress led by the state unit president Arjun Modhwadia and the Leader of Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela.
"We urge you to kindly peruse the anti-constitutional provisions made in the Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill 2013 and use the constitutional powers vested upon you," the memorandum said while requesting Governor to reject the Bill. "Most of the provisions in the bill are clearly ultra-vires to the Constitution and aim for such a system where the accused will be made judge to decide complains against himself," it said.
On April 2, the state Assembly passed the Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill 2013, which proposes a multi-member Lokayukta institution with one Lokayukta and up to four upa-Lokayukta in the state, by majority vote after Congress MLAs walked out of the house in protest.
The bill, aiming to curtail the power of the Governor and the chief justice of the high court in the appointment of corruption watchdog, proposes to give all the powers of the appointment to a selection committee headed by Chief Minister and wants state Governor to act on the recommendations of this committee.
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