President's nod for Kerala Lokayukta amendment a shot in the arm for Pinarayi govt

President Droupadi Murmu approved a bill passed by the Kerala Assembly amending the Lokayukta Act by including provisions that empowers government to review Lokayukta orders disqualifying public servants.

Thiruvananthapuram: In a win-win situation for the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala and Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to one bill passed by the Kerala Assembly, while assent for three bills were withheld.

While the bill amending the Lokayukta Act by including provisions that empowers government to review Lokayukta orders disqualifying public servants was given assent, three bills pertaining to removing the Governor from post of Chancellor of universities and changing the constitution of the Vice-Chancellor search panel to give the ruling party an upperhand were withheld by the President. The President's decision on three bills are still awaited, said a statement from the Kerala Raj Bhavan.

Amidst the tiff between the Governor and the Left Front government over a host of issues, the Governor had referred seven bills to the President last November. The Kerala government had even moved the Supreme Court over the undue delay on the part of the Governor in giving assent to the bills.

After the decision of the President to give nod to the Lokayukta amendment bill came out, the ruling CPI(M) flayed the Governor for not giving not approving those.

By afternoon, Raj Bhavan issued a press release informing that the President had withheld assent to three bills.

There were widespread allegations that the Lokayukta amendment bill was aimed at protecting the Pinarayi Vijayan government as cases against Vijayan and some ministers are pending before the Lokayukta.

While the Left Front government was of the view that in democracy statutory bodies could not be above democratically elected governments, the Opposition Congress had opposed the bill alleging that it would make the Lokayukta a powerless body.

K T Jaleel, who was the higher education minister in the previous Left Front government led by Vijayan, had to step down owing to Lokayukta disqualification order. Subsequently the government initiated the amendment citing that many other state governments also made similar amendments empowering the state governments to review Lokayukta orders.