'Remove Guv as respondent in Lokayukta selection'

The Gujarat High Court, faced with an unprecedented situation with the state government challenging appointment of Lokayukta made by the Governor, on Monday asked the state to remove name of the Governor as respondent in the case.

The court told the state government that it should amend its petition and could make secretary of an appropriate department as a respondent in the matter.

A division bench of Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice Sonia Gokani has directed the state government to submit the amended petition before September 5.  

The bench was also hearing couple of Public Interest Litigations seeking appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat and all of them will be heard on September 5.  On August 26, Gujarat Governor Dr Kamla, bypassing the Narendra Modi-led government, appointed Retd Justice R A Mehta as the state Lokayukta, a post which was vacant since 2003.

The state government challenged the appointment in the high court on the same day contending that the decision was "unconstitutional and unilateral".

When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, S N Shelath appearing for the Gujarat Governor said that under article 361 of the Constitution, a Governor can not be made a respondent by state government.

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi said that it was an unparallelled situation where the state government is challenging the decision of the Constitutional head of the state. And in a way, it is State Vs State, he added.

After hearing both the parties, the court asked state government to amend its petition by removing name of the Governor as respondent. It said the government could make secretary of appropriate department as respondent in the case.