"Victory of democracy and the Constitution": State Minister P Rajeev on President's nod for Kerala Lokayukta amendment
Feb 29, 2024
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], February 29 : Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev on Thursday termed President Droupadi Murmu's assent to the Kerala Lok Ayukta Bill as "the victory of democracy and the Constitution."
"The President has given the direction to the Governor to give assent to the Lokayukta Bill passed by the legislative assembly. This could have been done by the Governor a few months back when the bill was passed by the legislature as all the provisions were per the Lokpal but it didn't happen... Now, this is the victory of the Assembly and the Constitution," he said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala showed his disapproval over President Droupadi Murmu's assent to the Kerala Lok Ayukta Bill, saying the party will challenge the President's decision in the Court of Law to protect the interests of the state.
"If this is accepted, then what is the need for a judiciary? All the judgements will be challenged by an appellate authority by the executive. There is no need for courts and judgements, so the permission given by the president will be challenged in the Court of Law to protect the interests of the state," he said.
Chennithala alleged that the Lok Ayukta Bill was amended by the state assembly because the Chief Minister himself was involved in corruption cases that are pending before Lokayukta.
"Here, the CM and ministers are involved in corruption cases and they are pending before Lokayukta. That's why they came up with an amendment for Section 14, which will not be in the best interest of people," he said.
The Lokayukta Amendment Bill was passed by the Kerala assembly amid strong opposition from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) on August 30, 2022.
Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan had opposed the bill and sent it for the president's assent.
If the bill becomes law, the government will get to choose whether to accept or not the orders of Lokayukta. From now on, when a situation arises in which the Lokayukta is to pass a verdict against the Chief Minister, the Legislative Assembly will be the appellate authority, not the Governor. The Appellate Authority for the Ministers would be the Chief Minister, while for the Members of the Legislative Assembly, it would be the Speaker.
