NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging the order of the State High Court on the appointment of the Lokayukta by Governor Kamla Beniwal.
The High Court had upheld the appointment of Justice R A Mehta as the Lokayukta by the Governor. The High Court had remarked that the State government had sparked off a mini-constitutional crisis.
Justice V M Sahai said the pranks played by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the Lokayukta issue demonstrate the destruction of the Indian democracy.
Holding that extraordinary situations demand extraordinary remedies, Justice Sahai said this open resistance of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister in not accepting the primacy of the opinion of the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in the matter of appointment of Lokayukta has created a crisis situation.
There is no good reason to reject the name of Justice Mehta once the objections of the Chief Minister had been overruled by the Chief Justice, he stated.
Modi had insisted on Justice J R Vora to be appointed as Lokayukta but it was not accepted by the Chief Justice on the ground that the judge had been appointed as the Director of the Gujarat State Judicial Academy.