The Cabinet on Wednesday resolved to re-promulgate nine ordinances, including the contentious executive order that allegedly seeks to restrain the anti-corruption powers of the Kerala Lok Ayukta. The six-month validity of the ordinances would expire shortly.
The decision triggered media speculation that the Communist Party of India (CPI) Ministers objected to the proposal in Wednesday's Cabinet. The CPI had publicly opposed the amendment ordinance as it would batter the anti-corruption image of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
The LDF had passed the law in 1998. It empowered the ombudsman to give a "declaration of guilt" against any official, from Chief Minister and downwards, found guilty of corruption, nepotism or maladministration under Section 14 of the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act. Such a verdict made it binding on the appointing authority, the Governor in the case of the Chief Minister, to disqualify the errant official from holding office.