THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said that the Lok Ayukta Act (Amendment) ordinance did not have anything illegal in it so as to refrain from signing it.
Responding to the criticism, Khan said that the governor is constitutionally duty-bound to act as per the recommendations of the cabinet. He said that he has only discharged his duty by promulgating the ordinance and the decisions are taken by the elected government.
The governor's reactions came after the government's decision to amend the act has been widely criticised. The amendment has made the body a powerless body whose orders under section 14 of the act would hereafter be only recommendatory in nature. The opposition, including BJP, had said that the governor should not have signed the ordinance. BJP state president K Surendran said that the governor should have returned the ordinance without signing it, and the party would fight the ordinance legally and politically.
After holding the file for two weeks without any action, Khan had signed the ordinance proposing amendments to the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act, 1999, that has now made the agency's orders not binding on the government.
With the ordinance becoming law, all future verdicts of Lok Ayukta pronounced under section 14 of the act, has become irrelevant as it has become the choice of the government whether to adhere to the verdict or not. It was under this section that the agency had pronounced its verdict against former higher education minister KT Jaleel, based on which he had to quit his ministerial post, and it was later upheld by the high court. The ordinance was sent to the governor for his assent on January 24. However, after chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan met the governor and explained the government's position, the governor agreed to sign the ordinance.
