 "R A Mehta: The judge who declined high Lokayukta office")
Two years after being at the centre of a controversy which had led to constitutional battles in Gujarat, R A Mehta, 76, retired judge of the Gujarat High Court, broke his silence on August 7 and declined to assume the office of the state Lok Ayukta, despite his appointment being upheld by the Supreme Court.
Through the legal standoff between the Narendra Modi government and the Gujarat governor, the former judge remained calm. Now, in a strong letter to governor Kamla Beniwal and the chief justice of the HC, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, he sought to be excused from assuming the office. Saying he was "hurt" by the attitude of the government in opposing his appointment, Mehta rapped the Modi government for terming him biased and anti-government. He held it guilty of not respecting and not upholding the dignity of the Lok Ayukta's office.
Girish Patel, an old friend and senior lawyer, describes him as "very meticulous and firm, independent and a justice-oriented person". Another senior lawyer, Mukul Sinha, calls him an excellent judge, with a determined mind and ample social concerns.
Mehta's appointment as Lok Ayukata by Beniwal on August 25, 2011, had led to an open clash with the Modi government; it had challenged the decision in the HC. The effect of the controversial decision, bypassing the state council of ministers, was also felt in Parliament, where Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party stalled the proceedings. Modi wrote to the Prime Minister to recall Beniwal, alleging she was trying to run a parallel government in the state, supported by the Gujarat Congress party. BJP leaders at the Centre had also met then President Pratibha Patil.
After his retirement in 1998, Mehta had never sought any office with the government. Instead, he was frequently seen in forums constituted by concerned citizens. He was chairman of a citizens' fact finding committee that came up with a report on the Surat floods in 2006. He indicted then irrigation minister Narottam Patel for the manmade calamity. He was also on the dais at a public hearing regarding the riot victims of 2002. Anna Hazare had stayed at his place during his last visit to Ahmedabad.
Modi found enough reason to oppose his name as Lok Ayukta when it was first proposed by the then HC chief justice, S J Mukhopadhaya. Mehta's presence in meetings held by the riot victims and flood-affected, Narmada dam evacuees made him quite unsuitable in Modi's eyes.
But, the HC chief justice disagreed and said Mehta had always been held in high esteem; his social activism only added to his qualifications.
In October 2011, a two-judge HC bench split on the issue, following which a third judge upheld the discretionary power of the governor. The state government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, which dismissed its petition in January this year. The SC later dismissed the Gujarat government's review petition and then its curative petition.
Through the litigation, Mehta remained silent. He had evaded the media since the controversy over his appointment began in 2011.he was made a respondent in the HC case but would not give any answer or comment. "I was indifferent, I was not supporting or contesting. So, I did not want to be a party," was his take when asked why he would not respond to the summons.
Born and brought up in Rajkot, Mehta completed his BA from his home town and then went to Mumbai to study law. He practiced in constitutional, civil, company law, excise and labour law matters. He came into the limelight when he assisted the B K Mehta commission that probed the 1979 disaster of the Machhu dam burst at Morbi. In 1983, he was appointed a judge in the HC. In office, he was seen as a pro-poor and pro-labour judge. He was also acting chief justice for nearly 18 months, later refusing to go to another state as CJ. He refused promotion because he wanted to remain in Ahmedabad with his ailing mother.
Mehta is known for many judgments that directly resulted in improvement of society. They included abolition of carrying of nightsoil on the head by scavengers and regularisation of street hawkers in Ahmedabad. In the Golana massacre case, one of the worst incidents of caste-based violence in Gujarat, he formed guidelines for the government and police to follow in cases of caste and communal tension.
Through the legal standoff between the Narendra Modi government and the Gujarat governor, the former judge remained calm. Now, in a strong letter to governor Kamla Beniwal and the chief justice of the HC, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, he sought to be excused from assuming the office. Saying he was "hurt" by the attitude of the government in opposing his appointment, Mehta rapped the Modi government for terming him biased and anti-government. He held it guilty of not respecting and not upholding the dignity of the Lok Ayukta's office.
Girish Patel, an old friend and senior lawyer, describes him as "very meticulous and firm, independent and a justice-oriented person". Another senior lawyer, Mukul Sinha, calls him an excellent judge, with a determined mind and ample social concerns.
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After his retirement in 1998, Mehta had never sought any office with the government. Instead, he was frequently seen in forums constituted by concerned citizens. He was chairman of a citizens' fact finding committee that came up with a report on the Surat floods in 2006. He indicted then irrigation minister Narottam Patel for the manmade calamity. He was also on the dais at a public hearing regarding the riot victims of 2002. Anna Hazare had stayed at his place during his last visit to Ahmedabad.
Modi found enough reason to oppose his name as Lok Ayukta when it was first proposed by the then HC chief justice, S J Mukhopadhaya. Mehta's presence in meetings held by the riot victims and flood-affected, Narmada dam evacuees made him quite unsuitable in Modi's eyes.
But, the HC chief justice disagreed and said Mehta had always been held in high esteem; his social activism only added to his qualifications.
In October 2011, a two-judge HC bench split on the issue, following which a third judge upheld the discretionary power of the governor. The state government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, which dismissed its petition in January this year. The SC later dismissed the Gujarat government's review petition and then its curative petition.
Through the litigation, Mehta remained silent. He had evaded the media since the controversy over his appointment began in 2011.he was made a respondent in the HC case but would not give any answer or comment. "I was indifferent, I was not supporting or contesting. So, I did not want to be a party," was his take when asked why he would not respond to the summons.
Born and brought up in Rajkot, Mehta completed his BA from his home town and then went to Mumbai to study law. He practiced in constitutional, civil, company law, excise and labour law matters. He came into the limelight when he assisted the B K Mehta commission that probed the 1979 disaster of the Machhu dam burst at Morbi. In 1983, he was appointed a judge in the HC. In office, he was seen as a pro-poor and pro-labour judge. He was also acting chief justice for nearly 18 months, later refusing to go to another state as CJ. He refused promotion because he wanted to remain in Ahmedabad with his ailing mother.
Mehta is known for many judgments that directly resulted in improvement of society. They included abolition of carrying of nightsoil on the head by scavengers and regularisation of street hawkers in Ahmedabad. In the Golana massacre case, one of the worst incidents of caste-based violence in Gujarat, he formed guidelines for the government and police to follow in cases of caste and communal tension.