Moily slams Government on Upalokayukta appointment

Udupi, February 13: Union Corporate Affairs Minister M. Veerappa Moily said on Sunday that the way the State Government had appointed Chandrashekaraiah as Upalokayukta without consulting the High Court Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen showed that it had scant regard for law.

Mr. Moily told presspersons here that the State Government was committing mistakes after mistakes in making appointments to important posts such as the Lokayukta and the Upalokayukta. They made the first mistake while appointing the Lokayukta, now they had done the same while appointing the Upalokayukta. The Upalokayukta had to be appointed only after consulting the Governor, the presiding officers of the Assembly and the Council, the leaders of the Opposition in both the Assembly and the Council, and the Chief Justice of the High Court.

“Not consulting the Chief Justice is a heinous crime. The State Government has erred very badly here. After doing a mistake, it was incumbent upon the Government to find a solution to the problem. Instead, the Government was making arrogant statements, which will bring a bad name to the State. The State Government believes that what it says is the law,” he said.

As a solution to the problem, the Government should talk to the Chief Justice. “It is sheer obstinacy on the part of the Government to have a confrontation with the judiciary. No one else would have done this,” he said.

On the action taken against the three former Ministers caught watching porn in the Assembly, Mr. Moily said the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly had set up a committee to inquire into the incident. The act of the three former Ministers was a serious violation of ethics and morality, which called for stern punishment. The committee should take the matter seriously and uphold the dignity of the Legislative Assembly. “There is no point in adopting evasive tactics on this matter,” he said.

To a query, he said he had completed writing an epic poem (mahakavya) titled Draupadi . “I am giving finishing touches to it. It will be published in nine to 10 months in Kannada,” Mr. Moily said.