Vaghela: Corrupt govt doesn’t want Lokayukta

Leader of Opposition in state Assembly, Shankersinh Vaghela, Monday alleged that BJP government in the state was indulging in corrupt practices and then trying to cover them up by fighting against appointment of Lokayukta by spending crores of rupees of public money.

"If you are upright, why should you be bothered about who is Lokayukta? If you are non-corrupt, why did you not appoint a Lokayukta for eight years? And when the appointment of Lokayukta (by Governor of the state) has been upheld by (Gujarat) High Court and the Supreme Court (SC), why should you file a review petition," Vaghela said at a press conference here.

Vaghela was in Vadodara to accept felicitation by local Congress leaders after he was elected the leader of Congress Legislative Party last month.

The Gujarat government had filed a review petition in the SC on Friday against its January 2 verdict upholding appointment of Justice (retired) R A Mehta as Lokayukta by Governor Kamla Beniwal.

Meanwhile, former CLP leader Shaktisinh Gohil

said that the review petition by the government exposed the "double standard and duality of Chief Minister Narendra Modi".

He asked what would be the credibility of the Lokayukta supposed to probe the chief minister and his government if the Lokayukta was appointed at the recommendation of the CM.

Reacting to this, BJP leader Pradipsinh Jadeja said Gohil's comments reflected the "Congress tradition of political falsehood". He said the Modi government moved the review petition because of the constitutional crisis arising out of two different judgements on the same issue.

He said that while a two-judge bench of the SC in the case of Lokayukta appointment in Gujarat held that the opinion of the HC Chief Justice would enjoy primacy over the council of minister's, another bench a week later in the Karnataka Lokayukta case ruled that the opinion of the council of ministers headed by the CM would have primacy.

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