New Delhi: Upholding appointment of former Lokpal of Orissa, the Supreme Court has ruled that keeping in mind the functions to be discharged by a Lokpal, consultation with the Chief Justice of the state for such appointment was mandatory and his opinion would have primacy.

The ruling was given by a Bench comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice D M Dharmadhikari while setting aside a Orissa High Court judgement quashing the appointment of Justice K P Mohapatra as the Lokpal.

The High Court had held that, though consultation with the Chief Justice was made, the appointment was bad as there was no effective consultation with the leader of the opposition as envisaged under Section 3(1) of the Orissa Lokapl and Lokayuktas Act, 1995.

Disagreeing with the view of the High Court, the apex Court Bench said, "Scheme of Section 3(1) of the Act read with functions to be discharged by the Lokpal and the nature of his qualification, it is apparent that the consultation with the Chief Justice is mandatory and his opinion would have primacy."

"The nature of the consultation with the leader of opposition is to apprise him about the proposal of selecting a person to the post and also to take his views on the said proposal," Justice Shah, writing for the Bench said.

He said, "However, the opinion rendered by the leader of the opposition is not binding on the government and would have no power to recommend someone else for the said post."

After giving its 13-page judgement, the Bench said, "In the result, the appeal is allowed and the impugned judgement and order dated September 21, 2001 passed by the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack is quashed and set aside."

Justice Mohapatra, a retired judge of the Orissa High Court, was appointed as Lokapl by the Governor on November 26, 1996. Before that, as per the Act, the Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court and the leader of Opposition requesting them to give their views on the three names under consideration for appointment as Lokpal.

The Chief Justice suggested the name of Justice Mohapatra to be appointed as the Lokpal but the leader of Opposition, without going into the three names, suggested the name of another person for the appointment to the post.

Allowing the appeal filed by Justice Mohapatra against the High Court order quashing his appointment, the Supreme Court said, "For such appointment, Chief Justice of the High Court would be the best person for proposing and suggesting such person for being appointed as Lokpal."

"His opinion would be totally independent and he would be in a position to find out who is most or more suitable for the said office. In this context, primacy is required to be given to the opinion of Chief Justice of the High Court," it said.

After discussing the nature of consultation required to be done with the leader of the Opposition, the Bench said, "It would be open to the Government to override the opinion given by the leader of the Opposition with regard to appointment of a Lokpal who is statutorily required to be a sitting or retired Judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court."

PTI