Governor Ram Naik raised a question mark on the SP Government’s functioning over the appointment of lokayukta by the Supreme Court.
“The appointment of a lokayukta is the collective responsibility of the State Government, leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha and Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court. The apex court’s intervention on the issue has raised question mark on the working of the UP Government,” reacted Naik on the inordinate delay in the Ombudsman’s appointment. He was speaking to the media after attending a function in Kanpur on Thursday.
Without naming anyone, the Governor said that the reason behind the delay in appointing the lokayukta was well known and he refused to elaborate. To a query over reports that the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court had written to him over the issue, the Governor said that he learnt about it through the media and refused to comment.
Meanwhile, CM Akhilesh Yadav defended his Government over the issue of appointment of lokayukta by the Supreme Court. He said that a list of five names was sent to the Raj Bhawan and hence the subsequent delay can not be explained by him.
Talking to the media after attending a function at Gorakhpur on Thursday afternoon, Yadav said that the decision of apex court was welcome and the delay was due to other parties which was evident to all and sundry.