Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Monday adjourned the contempt of court case against Chief Minister Narendra Modi till January 10, 2012. Modi has been charged of publicising the contents of his letter to the Prime Minister over the Lokayukta appointment controversy.
Two separate contempt of court petitions were filed in the High Court against Modi - one by Bhikhabhai Jethva, father of murdered RTI activist Amit Jethva, and the other by a lawyer representing NGO Jan Sangarsh Manch.
Both of them contended the confidential letter was leaked to the media by the State Information Department, when the case related to the appointment of Lokayukta was pending before the high court, which is contempt of court.
Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had asked the state government to find out who leaked a letter written by Modi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which had confidential information on the Lokayukta issue.
A division bench of justices Akil Kureshi and Sonia Gokani asked the state Advocate General to find out who leaked his letter and whether he was aware of it (giving the letter for publicity).
In the letter, Modi levelled serious allegations against Lokayukta RA Mehta, the Governor, the Leader of Opposition and even the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court. He had also revealed communication between him and all the others deliberately, Yagnik told the court.
In an unprecedented move, the Gujarat Governor had appointed retired Justice RA Mehta as Lokayukta of the state, bypassing the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, which had kept the post vacant for the last seven years.
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