Congress to launch stir against Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill

The Congress today announced that it will shortly begin a statewide agitation to protest against the newly passed Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill 2013.
"The bill is not only against principles of natural justice and the Constitution, it also poses a danger to democratic values," state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia told reporters here.
"Though the state government has passed the bill in the state assembly, the Congress won't be bogged down by that and will take the issue to the people with a massive 'jan andolan' to highlight its dangerous provisions," he said.
He explained and criticised different provisions of the bill, especially the one which proposes a panel of six people headed by the state chief minister to select the Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta.

"This bill puts the chief minister on a high pedestal where no one can touch him and he has all freedom to do as much corruption as he wants," he alleged.
On Tuesday, after the walkout of all Congress MLAs in protest, the Gujarat Assembly passed the Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill 2013, which proposes a multi-member Lokayukta institution instead of the existing one-member Lokayukta, with a majority voice vote.

This bill, if sanctioned by the state governor, would replace and repeal the existing Gujarat Lokayukta Act 1986, and curtail the pivotal roles of the state governor and chief justice of the high court in the appointment of the Lokayukta.

Modhwadia also termed this bill as a "conspiracy" of the state BJP government to make the judiciary a "slave" of politicians.
"The BJP government has removed the role of the chief justice and decided to make a high court judge, merely one member out of six in the panel, to select the Lokayukta," he alleged.
"Not only that, this bill proposes to punish anyone and everyone who would bring a complaint to the Lokayukta as well as whoever reveals or publishes proceedings of the Aayog. Nobody will be able to challenge the decisions of the Aayog in any of the courts in the country," he said.