Breaking his silence almost two year after being caught in a political standoff between the Governor and Narendra Modi government, retd Justice R A Mehta on Wednesday declined to assume office despite Supreme Court upholding his appointment.
In a strongly worded letter to the Governor Dr Kamla Beniwal and Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Mehta said, "I humbly withdraw my consent for the appointment as the Gujarat Lokayukta and decline to assume the office. Kindly accept my request and relieve me. I sincerely wish to be excused by all of this anti-climax and great public inconvenience and embarrassment. I genuinely wish I could have avoided that."
"I have been seriously considering all along, but I could not persuade myself to accept the office of Lokayukta," Mehta said explaining his decision.
When contacted Mehta said, "All I have to say is in the letter. Have nothing more to add." 'Hurt' by the mind-set and attitude of Gujarat government that opposed his appointment, the former Gujarat High Court judge blasted Modi government for terming him as biased and anti-government. He further blamed the present BJP government in the state for not respecting and upholding the dignity of Lokayukta office.
"I am averse to any controversy and try to keep away. The present controversy has denigrated the office of the Loltayukta and adversely affected its credibility. The appointment has lost all the grace and dignity. The objection alleging anti-govt bias (though negatived by courts), really hurts. Some think that that if a person is not pro-government, he is necessarily anti-government. They can't accept that there is third category, neither pro nor anti, but independent and neutral. Their mind set is clear -- their way or no other," he said.
"A Lokayukta unwanted by the government cannot get all the necessary and timely support from it," Mehta further stated in the 7-page letter.
By-passing the state government, Governor Beniwal had appointed Mehta as Lokayukta on August 25, 2011. This was followed by a legal battle which lasted almost two years as state government sought to overturn his appointment and contested it till the last remedy of a curative petition was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Mehta has also cited Gujarat government's "reluctance" to notify his appointment in the state gazette even after its three petitions were rejected by the apex court. "Even after three judgements of the Supreme Court, the reluctance of the State Government to notify the Lokayukta appointment in the official Gujarat Government gazette is surprising, but not unexpected," he wrote. "I frankly admit that I will not be able to fulfil the public duty, public need and high public expectation from the Lokayukta in the circumstances. How can I take the responsibility and become the Lokayukta when my objectivity and credibility are not accepted by the government and by the public functionaries whose conduct the Lokayukta may have to investigate? Findings and recommendations - for or against a public functionary- will always be under question mark," Mehta said.
The former judge of Gujarat High Court also criticised the Gujarat Lokayukta Bill 2013 passed by the state Assembly in April which allows a six member committee headed by the Chief Minister to choose the Lokayukta. "Giving a voice and primacy to such public functionaries to decide, who is to be their investigator, would give an impression that they want it to be their 'caged parrot' and the institution of the Lokayukta would lose all credibility and respect of the people and deter many judges from accepting," he said.
Legal battle
The Gujarat Governor had on August 25, 2011 appointed retd Justice R A Mehta to the post of Lokayukta, which had been lying vacant for the last eight years. This order was challenged by the state government on the same day in the Gujarat High Court.
The division bench of the High Court had given the split verdict on the appointment issue on October 11, 2011. While Justice Akil Kureshi had upheld the decision of the Governor, Justice Sonia Gokani had quashed the warrant of appointment terming it to be unconstitutional.
Justice V M Sahai delivered verdict upholding appointment of Mehta after the division bench gave a split decision on the legitimacy of the Governor's action in appointing Mehta as Lokayukta. The Gujarat government then moved the Apex Court against the January 18, 2012 order of the Gujarat High Court upholding the Governor's decision.
Challenging the High Court's order in the Supreme Court, the state government had contended that the personal discretion exercised by the Governor in unilaterally issuing the warrant of appointment of Lokayukta was "unwarranted".
In January 2013, SC upheld the appointment of Mehta and rejected Modi government's petition. Gujarat government then filed a review petition which was rejected. A last bit effort to overturn the decision was also dismissed by the Apex court recently when it rejected curative petition of Gujarat government.
