UDF delegation calls on Kerala Governor, urges him not to sign ordinance for Lokayukta amendment
THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The Opposition UDF has urged Governor Arif Mohammed Khan not to sign the ordinance seeking an amendment in the Kerala Lokayukta Act, 1999.
A UDF team led by Opposition leader VD Satheesan also urged the Governor to forward the ordinance to the President for his scrutiny. Talking to reporters after calling on the Governor at Raj Bhavan, Satheesan said the LDF government has no right to term the Lokayukta Act passed by the Legislative Assembly as anti-constitutional.
Satheesan said the LDF government has humiliated former Chief Minister E K Nayanar and the then law minister E Chandrasekharan Nair who introduced the Lokayukta Act, 1999.
Satheesan had sent a letter to the Governor on Tuesday. If the Governor verifies the legal aspects of the ordinance, he will not sign it, he said.
"The E K Nayanar-led LDF government had brought in the Lokayukta Act in 1999. Now 23 years later, the Pinarayi-led LDF government claims that it is against the constitution. None of the courts have maintained that section 14 of the Lokayukta Act is anti-constitutional," said Satheesan.
In his four-page letter to the Governor, the Opposition leader recalled how the justifications made by the LDF government on bringing an amendment to the anti-corruption body appear to be "frivolous, politically driven and in stark contravention of the established laws in the country".
He also highlighted how in the 22-year-long history of the Act, only once did the Lokayukta pronounce under Section 14 against former higher education minister K T Jaleel finding him guilty of nepotism and abuse of office to obtain a favour for a close relative of his.
Apart from Satheesan, the UDF delegation comprised senior Congress leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, Kerala Congress Joseph faction MLA Mons Joseph, RSP State secretary A A Azeez, CMP State general secretary C P John and Forward Bloc leader G Devarajan.