Yeddyurappa gives more powers for Lokayukta with a catch

M.today

Bangalore, July 9:  Days after he almost quit citing helplessness and lack of powers, Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde has been given more powers.  He can now take up cases without waiting for a complaint.

But there is an all-important rider. The Chief Minister, other ministers, MPs and MLAs have been left out of the purview of these powers. 

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa announced this on Friday, saying that rules would also be amended to allow the Lokayukta to proceed against the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary.

 

Justice Hegde, known for his integrity, has expressed disappointment at the range of powers proposed by the state government. He is not satisfied that certain sections are being left out of his purview.

Hegde took on corrupt officers, conducted raids and booked a ruling party BJP MLA for taking bribes. But those his team raided, were often reinstated in the same post from which they were suspended without his being consulted. Sometimes they were even rewarded.

He even took on the powerful Bellary mining lobby, stating in his report last year that crores of rupees were siphoned away from the state’s exchequer through illegal mining.
 
Last month, he sent in his resignation saying he simply could not function as an anti-corruption authority without the necessary powers. He said, "There are many reasons for my resignation, the government has shown deliberate indifference to the functioning of this institution."

Nothing moved him to reconsider his decision, not even a request from Home Minister P Chidambaram. He finally acquiesced when BJP patriarch LK Advani appealed to him to take back his resignation and said Advani was like a father figure to him. 

But it was not just Advani’s appeal. The BJP leader’s support of this crusader against corruption had a definite impact on the state’s BJP government - which had already been facing the heat in the assembly for what the opposition said was its inability to fight corruption. And so the government promised to listen to the Lokayukta’s demands.

The Lokayukta’s report on illegal mining, presented in December 2008, has been largely ignored. Now BJP president Nitin Gadkari has promised the state will take action. The Chief Minister has written to the Prime Minister to stop the export of raw iron ore.

The Lokayukta’s suo moto powers were withdrawn in the 1980s - Justice Hegde wants that back.
•    The Lokayukta had demanded the filling of the Upalokayukta’s post which had been vacant for months. 3000 of the 9000 pending cases in the Upalokayukta’s jurisdiction are ready for settling and only needing a signature. The state government has guaranteed the post will be filled soon.
•    The punishment of an officer investigating an iron ore scam, which the Lokayukta described as the last straw has not only been cancelled, but the Chief Minister has also said the officer will be rewarded.
The Lokayukta has received an overwhelming endorsement of his work - a public outcry that ended with his staying on. The state government will need to take him and his office more seriously. Justice Santosh Hegde is clear has them on notice right now.