[It is as yet not known whether the second judge disagrees on the operative part of the judgement by the first judge.]
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2525670.ece AHMEDABAD, October 10, 2011 Gujarat HC gives split verdict on Lokayukta appointmentPTI The Gujarat High Court on Monday gave a split verdict on the appointment of a Lokayukta by the Governor with one judge upholding it and another differing from that view. Dismissing the State government’s petition challenging the appointment of Justice R N Mehta as the Lokayukta by Governor Kamla Beniwal on August 25, Justice Akil Qureshi rejected the government’s contention that the Governor acted without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers cannot be held right in this case as it was a peculiar case. In his order, Justice Qureshi said the post of Lokayukta was lying vacant for the last 8 years and there was a deadlock between the Chief Justice (of the High Court) and Chief Minister on the name of Justice Mehta. When the Chief Justice suggested Justice Mehta’s name, the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers rejected Justice Mehta’s name. There was a deadlock between the two and in such a stage the opinion of the Chief Justice of High Court is supreme, Justice Qureshi said. He said since the last Lokayukta retired in 2003, the government did not begin the consultation process till 2006. And when the consultation process began in 2006, there was no appointment till 2011, which is five years. “We are of the view that the post of Lokayukta has an important role to play in the present socio-economic situation and should not lie vacant for a long,” Justice Qureshi said. Justice Sonia Gokani, the other judge in the division bench, started reading out her judgement saying, “I do not not completely agree with my fellow judge.” She did not not complete reading out her verdict when the court rose for the day. She would continue tomorrow. Going chronologically into the case history, Justice Gokani said the state government attempted twice to fill the vacant post of Lokayukta. In 2006, she said, the chief minister started the consultation process and the Chief Justice had sent a panel of names. From the panel, the name of Justice K R Vyas was finalised by the Council of Ministers and sent to the Governor, who had returned the file in 2009. Again in 2010, the government made a request to the Chief Justice of the High Court who had finalised the name of Justice J R Vora which was sent to the Governor for approval. That was also rejected, she noted. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
