Narendra Modi must abide by law of land, says Moily

New Delhi, Jan 19 (ANI): Union Corporate Affairs Minister M. Veerappa Moily has said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi must abide by the law of the land and pointed out that the body of Lokayukta was enacted by the state legislature and as such he can't overstep the elected legislative institution.

"There is a Lokayukta law, which was passed by the Gujarat assembly itself. Unless that law is amended, I don't think that Mr. Narendra Modi has (can have) his own way. He has to go by the law of the land. Law has been passed by the Gujarat legislative assembly and I don't think he can transgress it unless he moves for an amendment . So according to the present law, the Governor has the power and I think the court has upheld it and I don't think he has any case," Moily told the media here.

He further said that the Governor is vested with the power to appoint the Lokayukta and hence the High Court has upheld the appointment.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman cleared her party's stand on this issue by saying that government of Gujarat would take legal opinion vis-a-vis the High Court's verdict.

She said added that her party and the state government would certainly abide by the High Court decision although it has proposed to knock at the doors of the Supreme Court for a review of the judgement.

She further said that the Congress party is unnecessarily trying to conspire against BJP and is trying to enter Gujarat from the back door with a motto to govern the state.

"We think that the Congress party, who is not being able to rule the Gujarat and by facing defeat in Gujarat state every time are trying to conspire against us by neglecting he institutions, the party is trying to enter Gujarat from the back door and that is wrong," Sitharaman told the media in Dehradun.

In a setback to the Narendra Modi Government, the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday upheld the appointment of Lokayukta by the Governor while dismissing the plea of the state challenging it.

Modi had accused the Governor of acting in a partisan manner and trying to destabilise the state government.

The Gujarat Government had earlier challenged Governor Kamla Beniwal's decision to appoint Mehta as state's Lokayukta, deeming the move unconstitutional and unilateral.

Justice (retired) RA Mehta was appointed as Lokayukta in August last year by Governor Beniwal. The post was lying vacant since November 2003.

According to the Indian Constitution, the Governor is the constitutional head of the state, appointed by the President on the aid and advice of the Central Government. (ANI)