Gandhinagar: Retired Gujarat High Court Judge D P Buch was today sworn in as the state's fourth Lokayukta, a post that lay vacant for a decade and over which Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Governor Kamla Beniwal were on a collision course for three years.
Justice Buch(retd) was sworn in as the anti-corruption ombudsman at a function in Raj Bhavan by Governor Beniwal in the presence of Modi and Assembly Speaker Vaju Vala.
The post had been lying vacant since the last incumbent Justice R M Soni's term expired in December 2003.
The appointment also came at a time when Modi, who is BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, was facing flak from Congress over the post lying vacant for a long time.
The Opposition party had said Modi had been repeatedly raising the issue of corruption under the Congress-led UPA government, but failed to appoint Lokayukta in his own state.
Justice Buch said he will act according to the law. “If the complaints are entertainable within the fixed categories (within the Lokayukta Act), then the complaints would be dealt with accordingly,” he said.
“However, if the complaint is beyond the purview of the law, the Lokayukta cannot act,” he added.
