DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 1 (MExN): The Nagaland Government on Thursday highlighted the reason for the proposed amendments in Section 3 (2) of the Nagaland Lokayukta Act, 2017, an issue which was raised by the Supreme Court.
In a press release, counsels appearing for the Nagaland State Government, Advocate General KN Balgopal, Advocate Nitya Nambiar and Advocate Vitso Rio pointed out that the Nagaland Lokayukta Act, 2017 received assent of the Governor of Nagaland on December 21, 2017. Normally, after the Act receives the assent of the Governor, the Act is notified for implementation. Curiously, the previous government notified the Act for information and not for implementation, the press release stated.
According to the existing Act, the selection of the Lokayukta will be done by the State Government after consultation with the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition. Interestingly, the “Chief Minister has been kept out of the selection process by the previous government,” the press release stated.
While asserting that including the “Chief Minister in the selection process is a question of Naga Pride” and this is a privilege to be accorded to any Chief Minister of Nagaland, the counsels stated that an affidavit was filed in the Supreme Court by the Chief Secretary which was finalised by the Advocate General for including the Chief minister in the selection panel for the Lokayukta.
Mention was also made in the affidavit that the proposed amendments are matters which will be considered by the legislature in its wisdom and the legislature can also look into similar Acts of Kerala, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana.
Further, in the affidavit, Section 3 of the Act, the Sub-section (1) states that the Governor is the appointing authority of the Lokayukta, while in Sub-section (2) it is stated that the Lokayukta shall be appointed by the State Government, creating confusion in the minds of the people as to who really is the appointing Authority.
The counsels therefore maintained that it became necessary to reword Sub-section (2) of Section 3 to clarify that the Governor shall appoint the Lokayukta in accordance with the recommendations of a Selection Committee consisting of the Chief Minister, Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, the Speaker and the Leader of Opposition.
In the event there is no opposition leader, then the leader of the single largest party in the opposition in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly will be included.
The counsels also stated that the proposed amendments to the Lokayukta Act will be considered in detail by the legislature in its wisdom which will also look into the similar Acts of the above mentioned states also and will streamline the procedure for the selection and appointment of Lokayukta by the Governor.
Towards this, the Supreme Court took note of the reasons for the proposed amendments in para 3 of the affidavit and has left it to the concerned authorities to effect necessary amendments, the press release stated. The Nagaland Lokayukta Rules have to be framed and the Lokayukta has to be appointed within three months, the SC directed.
