 "Tamil Nadu governor, R N Ravi")
Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Tuesday said if there was any attempt by any state government to weaken the Lok Ayukta system, then the concerned Governor "has a role to play" as they are "not rubber stamps".
Speaking at the Lok Ayukta Day event held here, Ravi said if there was any attempt to weaken the institution of Lok Ayukta within the confines of the Constitution, then "Governors have a role to play".
"Any kind of amendment which weakens the institution, the Governor must take a call because Governors are not rubber stamps," he said at the event which was also attended by Kerala Law Minister P Rajeeve.
His remarks assume significance as the LDF government in Kerala recently passed the controversial Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to make the executive the appellate authority over reports by the anti-corruption watchdog, and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan is yet to sign the same.
Khan has been at the receiving end of sharp criticism from the Left government in Kerala for holding on to the bill till date after it was passed on August 30 and the protest march, held by LDF during the day, to Raj Bhavan was also on this issue.
The Congress-led opposition which had vehemently opposed the bill, has been claiming from the start that the amendment would weaken the anti-corruption mechanism in a democratic system.
In the Lok Ayukta Day event held here, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said that the amendments to the Lok Ayukta Act would not only weaken it, but would also result in the executive having powers of the judiciary.
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"The executive would be sitting in appeal over decisions taken by a judicial process," he said.
Rajeeve, who also spoke at the event, responded to Satheesan's contentions by saying that the amendments included in the Act were the same as the model Lok Ayukta Act enacted by the Parliament and sent to all the states.
He also said that "we should try to strengthen the Lok Ayukta system.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
