The Gujarat government today said the state High Court verdict upholding appointment of Lokayukta by Governor would be challenged in the Supreme Court following consultations with legal experts.

The Gujarat High Court, in a majority decision upheld the appointment of Lokayukta by the Governor, while dismissing the plea of the state challenging it.

"We accept the verdict of the high court. But our points remain and we will challenge this decision in the Supreme Court after consultations with legal experts," Gujarat government spokesperson and Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said.

"We had raised two points in our petition before the high court. The first point was that the consultation process between the chief minister and the chief justice was not over and the former had written a letter to the latter on the issue," Vyas said.

"The second point we raised was- this is an issue which touches the constitutional provisions. If governors are permitted to work outside the realm of the constitutional provisions, it would become very difficult for the state governments to work," Vyas said.

"Our plea with the high court was fundamental to the safety of the federal structure and also very very central to the provision by the Constitution of India, as this decision of the Governor bypassed constraints and restraints imposed by the Constitution on the Governor's office," Vyas said.

On a question, whether it was a setback for the Gujarat government, Vyas said, "No legal judgement is a celebration or a setback. One should not read further in the judgement. We never opposed the appointment of Lokayukta."

Replying to a question whether this judgement should be considered as a failure of political campaign unleashed by the Modi government against the Governor, after she appointed the Lokayukta, Vyas said, "This was not the only issue that was raised in their campaign against the Governor."

"Apart from the appointment of the Lokayukta, the issues raised during the political campaign were return of the Bills passed by the State Assembly and the functioning of the Governor's office as an office of the Congress party," Vyas further said.

Earlier Report

Blow to Modi govt: Lokayukta appointment upheld

In a blow to the Narendra Modi government, the Gujarat high court on Wednesday upheld the appointment of justice (retired ) RA Mehta as the state Lokayukta.

Gujarat governor Kamla Beniwal had appointed Mehta as the Lokayukta, a post lying vacant since November 2003, on August 26, 2011 leading to a no-holds-barred confrontation with the BJP government.

Modi had accused the governor of acting in a biased manner and trying to destabilise the state government. He even wrote a letter to the prime minister seeking her recall.

PTI reports

Gujarat HC upholds appointment of Lokayukta by Governor

Ahmedabad, Jan 18 (PTI) In a setback to the Narendra Modi government, the Gujarat High Court, in a majority decision, today upheld the appointment of Lokayukta by the Governor while dismissing the plea of the state challenging it.

Justice V M Sahai, who was given the task of hearing the petition challenging the appointment of Lokayukta following the split verdict of a division bench, said, "I could not agree with Justice Sonia Gokani of the division bench on the points of difference, which were referred to me."

In his verdict, he said, "I concur with the views of my brother judge Akil Kureshi."

Kureshi had upheld the appointment of Lokayukta calling it as "constitutional".

"Hence, the government petition is dismissed", the court said.

Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal had appointed retired Justice R A Mehta to the post of Lokayukta on August 25, last year. The post had been lying vacant for eight years prior to that.

The Gujarat government, led by Chief Minister Modi, had gone all out to oppose the appointment of Lokayukta by the Governor for "bypassing the state government".

The government had challenged the appointment the very next day in the High Court and had also unleashed a political campaign against the Governor.

Earlier, on October 11, a division bench of the High Court had given a split verdict on the appointment issue.

While Justice Kureshi had upheld the decision of the Governor, Justice Gokani had quashed the warrant of appointment issued by the Governor terming it to be unconstitutional.