Thiruvananthapuram: In a controversial move, the Kerala government has decided to bring an ordinance to amend the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act to dilute the powers of Lokayukta. The ordinance was approved by the Cabinet and has been sent to the Governor for approval.
The amendment is aimed at giving powers to the government to either accept or reject the verdict of the Lokayukta. The law will come into force if Governor Arif Mohammad Khan signs the ordinance.
The move comes at a time when complaints are pending before the Lokayukta against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Higher Education Minister R Bindu. The complaint against Vijayan was pertaining to the anomalies in the distribution of financial aid from the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund. The complaint against R. Bindu is that she abused her power by interfering in the appointment of Kannur University VC.
Former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had complained to the Lokayukta against minister Bindu about her alleged illegal interference in the re-appointment of the vice-chancellor of Kannur University.
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If the ordinance comes into force, the Lokayukta itself will lose its relevance completely. According to the ordinance, the Lokayukta's verdict should be accepted only if the government is interested.
In the previous LDF regime, higher education minister K T Jaleel was forced to step down after Kerala Lokayukta found that the minister had abused the power of his office and should quit. Jaleel had faced a case about the alleged illegal appointment of his relative with the state minorities development corporation.
