Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to convene a Cabinet meeting on November 7 to decide the future course of action on the Act and described it as "unconstitutional". "We will see whether we will amend it or bring a new law," said Bahuguna.
The news of the presidential assent was kept under wraps by the state government for more than a month, reflecting the uneasiness it faced to issue a gazette notification.
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It was clear that no such notification would be issued after the chief minister decided to review the Lok Ayukta Act, 2011, which was passed in the Vidhan Sabha by the former Bharatiya Janata Party-led government albeit unanimously.
Bahuguna had withdrawn a series of anti-corruption measures brought by former chief minister B C Khanduri that include highly-appreciated transfer act through separate legislations, despite facing flak from different quarters.
A section of experts also questioned the chief minister's wisdom in describing the bill as "unconstitutional" when President Pranab Mukherjee had given his assent.
Khanduri met Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday to thank him for giving his assent.
Some experts claimed prosecution of MLAs, ministers and chief ministers is "highly impossible" since the government has kept a clause of obtaining permission from all members of the Lokayukta, including chairman for investigation and prosecution.
"This provision is highly impossible when the situation arises. It means if any of the members of the Lokayukta is not favouring the investigation and prosecution against the high functionaries, the investigation will not take place," said Avdhash Kaushal, chairman of RLEK, a Dehradun-based NGO, which specialises in legal matters.
"This bill is fully discriminatory and unconstitutional because before the law everyone is equal," Kaushal added.
The Lok Ayukta Act in present form brings in its ambit the post of chief minister, all ministers, MLAs and government servants, including IAS and IPS officers, with a provision of life imprisonment or more severe punishment.
The Lok Ayukta Bill, which was passed by the Vidhan Sabha on November 1, 2011, was signed by the then Governor Margaret Alva, who had forwarded it to the president because it fell in the concurrent list.
Meanwhile, Khanduri has described the decision to review the act as "unfortunate", saying it exposed the government's unwillingness to fight corruption.