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Lokayutka of Karnataka Justice Santosh Hegde said that the proposal made by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to give suo motu powers to the Lokayukta to investigate all public servants except the chief minister, ministers, legislators and public servants nominated by the government, neither makes him happy nor sad.
"I have been given suo motu powers to probe against bureaucrats but the same power is left out where the CM and his other ministers are concerned. But this will not be a deterrent for me to act against either the CM or his ministers," Justice Hegde told rediff.com.
"I will not say I am fully disappointed. I am happy about the power given to me against the bureaucrats, but it is sad that at the ministerial level this power has been left out, since this is where there is a lot of corruption," he added.
"However, this denial of power does not deter me from going against the top-level ministers. The political bosses cannot escape from the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. I may not be able to act suo motu, but my police can act against them based on a complaint. In Karnataka, there is no restriction. The bigger problem, however, is that no one comes forward and files a complaint against the political bosses. The reason why I had asked for suo motu power is because there is a need for me to probe the maladministration, which happens at the highest levels," he said.
"I cannot say that all my demands are met. I would however like to say that the CM, who made a promise in front of his national president while asking me to reconsider my resignation had assured before the entire media that all my demands will be met. Today he has changed his stance," he added.
Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to give suo motu powers to the Lokayukta to investigate all public servants except the chief minister, ministers, legislators and public servants nominated by the government.
Replying to this week's lengthy debate in the state legislative assembly on the resignation (and subsequent withdrawal) of Lokayukta N Santhosh Hegde, he spelt out the government's intention to amend the Karnataka Lokayukta Act for "strengthening" the statutory institution.
Asked for his reaction, Leader of Opposition Siddarmaiah said, "We want the chief minister, ministers and legislators to be included (in the suo motu power ambit)."
He said when the government tables the amendment to the act on the floor of the house, the opposition would explain its stand. But his initial reaction to the government's proposal to amend the act was, "There is nothing new in it".
Yeddyurappa's proposal on Lokayukta comes within days of the resignation of Hegde, who complained of non-cooperation from the government in the fight against corruption and failure to give suo motu powers (without any complaints) to investigate.
Hegde's resignation led to a public outcry and calls that he withdraw his resignation as the pressure mounted on the government to act. Hegde eventually relented after veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani requested him to withdraw his papers.
Yeddyurapa noted in the assembly on Friday that Upa-Lokayukta has powers to carry out suo motu investigation in respect of public servants coming under his jurisdiction whereas the Lokayukta does not have them in his.
Chief minister, ministers, members of legislature and all public servants getting a monthly pay of Rs 20,000 and more and whose minimum stage of the pay scale is more than Rs 20,000 come under the jurisdiction of the Lokayukta.
"It is proposed to give suo-motu powers to Lokayukta to investigate all public servants except chief minister, ministers, members of legislature and public servants nominated by the government," Yeddyurappa said.
The government also proposed to amend the act to make it mandatory for Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta to record in writing the grievance or the allegation on which they want to start suo motu investigation before undertaking such a probe.
As per the proposed amendment, the Lokayukta and the Upa-Lokayukta are required to provide the copy of the complaint to the public servant and the competent authority concerned before starting investigation.
Image: Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa
With inputs from PTI