UP Governor returns recommendation on Lokayukta

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, who has had his share of disagreements with the Samajwadi government, today returned the Cabinet recommendation for appointment of retired High Court justice Ravindra Singh as Lokayukta and asked it to follow due process.
Sending back the file, he told the government to send any name other than that of Justice Singh, who had demitted office last month as judge of the Allahabad High Court.
Naik said he was not bound to toe the Cabinet's decision on appointment of Lokayukta as there was a process of its own for selection to such a post and the Cabinet has no role in it, a Raj Bhawan spokesman said here.

"The Governor has written letters to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Leader of the Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya and the High Court Chief Justice and expected them to soon send a name of Lokayukta except Justice (retd) Ravindra Singh keeping in mind the Supreme Court's directive in this regard and after proper discussion," he said.
"For appointment of Lokayukta, the legal process of discussion was not fulfilled legally. According to the Leader of the Opposition, there was no discussion or agreement on any name for Lokayukta and members of the selection committee were unaware what letters were exchanged or discussions held," the Governor said.

He cited the opinion of the Chief Justice of the High Court, who had said due to justice Singh's closeness with the ruling party, the work of the Lokayukta could be affected. Hence, recommending his name was not appropriate, he said.

The Governor, who consulted legal experts in the last two days and closely examined the reply of the Akhilesh Yadav government, returned the file for the fifth time to the state government this morning.
In its latest reply, the government stated that there was only a two-member committee comprising the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition for the selection of Lokayukta and the two had already held a meeting.

As far as the role of the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court is concerned, the selection panel had just to consult him, the government contended.
"The Chief Justice has already been consulted. But the government is not bound by his advice and opinion," the government said in its reply.
Leader of the Opposition and member of the selection committee Swami Prasad Maurya, however, insisted that consensus among all the three members was mandatory for the selection of the Lokayukta.
Earlier in July, Raj Bhawan had cleared names of candidates for four seats in the nominated members' category in the Legislative Council while keeping on hold names for five other seats. These five names are still awaiting the Governor's nod.