Thiruvananthapuram: An opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) team called on the Governor on Thursday with the plea that he should not sign the proposed ordinance to amend the Kerala Lokayukta Act.
The ordinance should be sent to the President for approval, the opposition urged the Governor.
The draft ordinance is currently under the consideration of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
The UDF delegation was led by Opposition Leader in the Assembly V D Satheesan. On Tuesday itself, Satheesan had sent a protest letter to the Governor on the matter.
As reported earlier the Left Democratic Front Government has courted controversy over the move to bring in an ordinance for amending the key provisions of the Lokayukta Act. The government's move is allegedly aimed at diluting the strong provisions contained in the present Act to bring to book the corrupt political executives.
Even retired judges have come out against the new ordinance.
Governor has decided to seek legal opinion on the new proposed amendments given assent by the State Cabinet. The government has sent the draft to the Governor for approval. If needed, the Governor may seek the opinion of the legal experts in Delhi.
As per the main amendment, even if the Lokayukta barred those in power from continuing in their governmental position due to corruption, the authorities can ignore the Lokayukta verdict by conducting a hearing within three months and either accept or reject the Lokayukta order.
The Opposition's allegation is that the new ordinance was hurriedly brought in in view of the cases pending against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Higher Education Minister R Bindu in the Lokayukta.
Earlier, former Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala had urged the Governor to refrain from signing on the ordinance which seeks to destroy the institution of Lokayukta.
What the letter says
The delegation handed over a letter to the Governor, urging him to abstain from giving assent to the Lokayukta ordinance.
The government's justification for the proposed amendment "appear to be frivolous, politically driven, and in stark contravention of the established laws," the letter stated.
In the letter, the UDF also flagged government's excuse to bring in changes citing a few decisions of the Kerala High Court.
"The verdicts of the High Court have been misconstrued in order to deceive the public and push anti-people legislation,' the opposition charged.
"The executive is openly proclaiming a statute that has been in effect for 22 years to be unconstitutional and is proposing an ordinance to change the provision. This is ultra vires and goes against the fundamental tenets of the Indian constitution."
The opposition also condemned the government's bid to make itself an appeal authority by way of the ordinance. In defence of the proposed changes, the Law Minister had stated the current Lokayukta Act lacks an appeal provision.
"It is strange how an executive could serve as an appeal authority on a decision pronounced by a judicial or quasi-judicial forum consisting of former Supreme Court judge or Chief Justice of the High Court," the opposition stated in the letter.
"There are various laws in this country that do not provide for appeals. Lok Adalat formed under Legal Services Authorities Act, is one example. The lack of an appeal clause in the original legislation can be justified by the fact that the Lokayukta would be a Supreme Court Judge or a retired High Court Chief Justice. The decisions of the Lokayukta can be challenged in the High Court as per Article 226 and Article 227," it further stated.
The UDF also impressed upon the Governor the hastiness in bringing this ordinance and cited the grounds for issuing ordinances as prescribed in Article 213.
"With the legislative assembly session slated for next month, there seems to be no compelling reason to change the law, which has been in existence for over 22 years. The only immediate reason that could be perceived is that the Lokayukta is about to take up cases against the Chief Minister over relief fund misappropriation and the Higher Education Minister over the university issue. It should be understood that the government is expecting an unfavourable verdict in these cases and this ordinance is a shield to guard against any unsavoury decisions from the Lokayukta," the opposition claimed.
The UDF also warned the proposed amendment would serve as a catalyst for rampant corruption and nepotism.
