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Published on August 20th, 2013 | by Pheku India

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What Will Modi Do Now? Have R A Mehta Encountered?

On July 19th the Modi government suffered a serious set back as the SC dismissed its Curative Petition seeking control over the appointment of Justice (retd) R A Mehta as the Lokayukta of Gujarat. With this, Modi has no further choice left but to appoint Mehta as the Lokayukta, an appointment he has staved off for over three years.

The following is the timeline of events:

• 2004 – 2011        For seven years the position of Lokayukta remains vacant.
• June 2011            The Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court Recommends the appointment of Justice (retd) R A Mehta as Lokayukta of Gujarat
• Aug-Sept 2011   Gujarat High Court issues a show-cause notice to the Modi government seeking clarification as to why the government was not moving forward with the appointment of Justice Mehta. The Court issues this notice in response to a PIL filed. The Governor intervenes and appoints Justice Mehta bypassing the government.
• Oct ’11–Jan ’12    The Modi government goes to court against the appointment of Justice Mehta by the Governor. In Jan 2012, the High Court rules by majority decision that the appointment of Mehta was valid. The Modi government goes to the Supreme Court seeking a review.
• Jan 2013               The Supreme Court upholds the Gujarat High Court decision to appoint Justice Mehta as Lokayukta
• Marc-Apr ’13      Facing defeat the Modi government changes strategy.It passes a new Lokayulta Bill that will give the Chief Minister sweeping powers and weaken the institution of Lokayukta. Passes the new Act in April 2013. More details of the new Gujarat Lokayukta Act will follow soon on pheku.in
• July 2013              Having passed a new Act that gives new powers on Lokayukta to the Chief Minister and the State government, the Modi government moves the SC with a Curative Petition. The SC dismisses the petition and reaffirms the appointment of Justice Mehta.

Why is Pheku so determinedly against the appointment of an independent Lokayukta? Either he has much to hide or he is just a megalomaniac who hates democratic processes. Either case, Pheku just seems to hate democratic scrutiny!

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