Ahmedabad: Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal today approved the appointment of Justice (retd) D P Buch as the Lokayukta of the state, paving the way for filling up of the post, which has been lying vacant for the last ten years.
"The Governor has accepted the advice tendered by the Council of Ministers and approved the appointment of Justice D P Buch as the Lokayukta of Gujarat," Finance Minister and government spokesperson Nitin Patel said.
"Subsequent to such approval, the General Administration Department of the state government will make arrangements for administering oath of the office to Justice Buch...," Patel said.
On Wednesday, the state cabinet had made a recommendation to the Governor to appoint former high court judge D P Buch as the Lokayukta.
Justice Buch's name was recommended by the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court Bhaskar Bhattacharya. Opposition Congress had also given its go ahead for the appointment.
The development comes at a time when the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was facing flak from Congress over the post of the anti-corruption watchdog lying vacant in Gujarat.
The issue of appointment of Lokayukta had triggered a major controversy after the Governor had appointed Justice (retd) R A Mehta as Lokayukta on August 25, 2011.
This had led to a long-drawn legal battle, with the Modi government alleging that Mehta's appointment was done with bypassing the state government. However, the Supreme Court had upheld the governor's decision.
Another twist came when Justice Mehta declined to take charge of the office in August this year stating that "the mind-set and attitude of the state government were counter-significant".
