The selection committee of the West Bengal Assembly on Monday nominated former Justice Asim Roy as the state’s Lokayukta.
The committee also nominated Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya for the post of chairman of the Human Rights Commission and Shivkant Prasad for the post of member of the committee. The names will be sent to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
However, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Biman Banerjee said the rule is to agree on the names finalised by the selection committee. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: “We abide by the rules of the National Human Rights Commission.”
The members of the selection committee are the Chief Minister, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Leader of the Opposition and the Parliamentary Minister.
Leader of the Opposition Shuvendu Adhikari was not present in the meeting. According to Assembly sources, Adhikari had written to the chief secretary on December 22 demanding the name of the State Human Rights Commission chairperson. He claimed that the government did not reply to his query.
The BJP’s Nandigram MLA said he would nominate a separate case and send it to Governor Dhankhar. He repeatedly claimed that the final decision, in this case, would be taken by the Governor.
Adhikari said, “I have made my position clear. The governor can make the final decision. He will consult the Chief Minister and in the case of Lokayukta, he will consult the Speaker, the Parliamentary Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition. In the case of the chairman and members of the Human Rights Commission, the Chief Minister will take a decision in consultation with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Leader of the Opposition.”
Speaking about Adhikari’s absence in the meeting, Speaker Banerjee said, “I have never seen anything like this before. Suryakanta Mishra objected to him, his objection was noted. Abdul Mannan was also present. So, he (Shuvendu Adhikari) is the only one who can say why he avoided the meeting. He may have gone to the Governor.”
Banerjee added, “I think the Leader of the Opposition should know the law. The governor cannot hold parallel elections. Earlier, Suryakanta Mishra had given another name. This time no name came separately.”