Guv Arif Mohammad Khan signs Kerala Lokayukta Act amendment ordinance

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 07: Governor Arif Mohamed Khan signed the Kerala Lokayukta amendment ordinance. The Governor signed the ordinance a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had appraised Khan of the circumstances that led to an ordinance to amend the Lokayukta Act in the state.

On Sunday, he had met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who returned to the State on Sunday from abroad over the Lokayukta issue. The proposed ordinance envisages to limit the powers of the anti-corruption watchdog.

During the over-an-hour long meeting at the Governor's official residence - Raj Bhavan, Vijayan is learnt to have apprised Khan of the circumstances that led to bring an ordinance to amend the Lokayukta Act, official sources said.

The ordinance was reportedly approved during the last cabinet meeting, but there was no reference to it in the cabinet brief issued by the government later.

The Congress has urged the Governor to not sign the ordinance.

The party alleged that the CPI(M)-led government was trying to promulgate the ordinance at a time when complaints of several irregularities of the government were pending.

This is also the first meeting of the Chief Minister with the Governor after a row broke out over the alleged differences between the government and the Raj Bhavan on the alleged political interference in the functioning of the universities.

In December last year, the Governor wrote a letter to the Chief Minister urging the latter to remove him from the post of the Chancellor of universities, and take over. The Chief Minister is also learnt to have briefed the Governor about his visit overseas. Vijayan went to the UAE last week after his two-week long medical treatment in the United States. He returned to the state on Sunday.