Yeddy’s fate hinges on Hegde’s final word

Mtoday/ DHN

Bangalore, July 22 : There may not be much suspense left about Lokayukta’s final report on the illegal mining racket in the State, but all eyes are now riveted on Justice Santosh Hegde’s recommendations which could potentially be damaging for the B S Yeddyurappa government’s continuance in office.

Though Justice Hegde is yet to firm up the date on which he would submit his report – portions of which have already been leaked – it is his recommendations that will accompany the report that are giving sleepless nights to the BJP leadership.

As per Section 13 of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984, the Lokayukta or Upa Lokayukta can “direct a public servant to vacate office after investigating into a complaint.”
Justice Hegde has been silent on his recommendations on what could be done about the chief minister, the four ministerial colleagues and the officials indicted in the scam.

Governor H R Bhardwaj said on Friday that he would go by the recommendations of He­gde while taking action, if required, against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on the mining issue.

“I will give my serious tho­ught to whatever he recommends and you will know my action the moment I get the report,” Bhardwaj told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Bangalore. “Whatever he (Lokayukta) recommends, I will go according to that. I am not going to do anything else,” Bhardwaj said even as he made it clear that he is  the only constitutional authority to take action against the chief minister.

“If as a competent authority, he (Lokayukta) sends the report to me, then I will deal with it according to Sections 12 and 13 of the Lokayukta Act,” he said. However, Hegde, replying to a question by reporters, said he will submit the report to the government and not to the governor. But the governor can always get a copy of it.

 

Asked if the chief minister should resign, Bhardwaj said: “He is the elected chief minister. I cannot speak unless I read the report.” Bhardwaj said it was he who first mentioned illegal mining activity in the State. “Nobody took my words seriously and the government ignored the matter,” he said.

Law point
As per Section 13 of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984, a Lokayukta or Upa Lokayukta can direct a public servant to vacate office after investigating into a complaint, and feels that the public servant concerned should not continue in the post he has been holding.

The Lokayukta or Upa Lokayukta shall make a declaration to that effect in his report under sub-section (3) of Section 12. The competent authority – the governor, state government or the chief minister, as the case may be – shall either accept or reject the declaration.

In the case of the chief minister, the competent authority is the governor. As far as ministers are concerned, the competent authority is the chief minister. If the report is not rejected within a period of three months it shall be deemed to have been accepted, the Act says. Hegde said he has not yet decided about his recommendations. “I will decide in a day to two. I will discuss with my colleagues. We are yet to decide whether an act of a person itself can be considered as criminality. We need to take a balanced view.”

Asked if the report will refer to other cases being investigated by the Lokayukta against the chief minister, he answered in the negative.  The Lokayukta is yet to decide the date for submitting the report to the government.

He said the recommendations are yet to go for printing.  The governor suo motu can’t act on the Lokayukta report. As per Section 12 (5) of the Lokayukta Act,  if the Lokayukta/ Upa Lokayukta is satisfied with the action taken or proposed to be taken on his recommendations or findings, then he can close the case. But if he is not satisfied and if he considers that the case so deserves, he may make a special report upon the case to the governor and also inform the competent authority.

On the receipt of the special report, the governor should send the copy of the same along with an explanatory memorandum to be laid in the State legislature, the Act says. The ruling BJP is a worried lot on the severity of the recommendations to be made by the Lokayukta and whether a case will be filed before the Supreme Court based on the Lokayukta report.

 

Currently, the Green Bench of the apex court is hearing the mining cases. It deals with only the environment aspects. If the court takes cognisance of the report, as it did it in the 2G spectrum case, then Yeddyurappa and his ministerial colleagues will be in trouble.