COMMENTS

For the third time in over 25 years of legal wrangling, a Supreme Court constitutional bench on Tuesday gave CBI freedom to proceed against senior bureaucrats of the rank of joint secretary and above found involved in corruption cases.

For the full text of the editorial in the ToI, click here.

However, as has been pointed out by Srivatsa Krishna, IAS, vide the excerpts from his column in the ToI reproduced below (full text accessible here), "prosecution" still needs government sanction:

One protection is that government's sanction is needed for prosecution of all public servants (Section 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988). This provision remains and is not affected by the latest judgment. However, even the mere launching of an inquiry by CBI has these days become a matter of much public comment in the media and so can be damaging to an officer who may actually be honest.

And, beyond that, he suggests

One approach could be to provide that, while CBI has a right to start investigations without sanction, the officer being probed should also have the right to approach an independent agency like CVC and/or Lokpal and present his side of the story. They in turn should have the power to quash an investigation after hearing the officer if he chooses to challenge the inquiry. Another could be that, as in the case of rape victims, media should not publish the names of public servants at the preliminary inquiry stage.

Fair enough. Now, if a CBI enquiry establishes a strong enough ground for prosecution, but the government refuses to sanction prosecution, will it at least make public the reason for the same in a time-bound manner?

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Ashwin claimed Lokayukta SP Sonia Narang had sought his help to get a posting in the anti-corruption agency. “She met me thrice and all meetings were at the Lokayukta’s official residence. Once, she had come with one Narasimha Murthy and twice, she was accompanied by her husband,” he said.

When contacted, Narang  admitted the meetings took place at the Lokayukta’s residence in September and October 2014. “I did not go there on my own. In fact, I got a call that the Lokayukta would like to see me. When I went there, the Lokayukta was not around. Ashwin asked me if I would like to be posted in the Lokayukta. I said I was willing to work wherever the government posted me,” she said.

For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

The question that arises is what business did the Lokayukta's son, Mr Ashwin, in the first place, have to ask Ms Narang the question as to whether she would like to be posted in the Lokayukta. This by itself has let the cat out of the bag.

The report also mentions that Ashwin "runs a car restoration business. He owns 25 vintage cars, including a 1928-model Chevrolet" - essentially a rich man's business/ past-time. Apparently, in his father getting posted as the Lokayukta, he found a short cut to join the rich man's club.

Well, all of these couldn't have carried on without the knowledge of the father. Both should find place in Parappana Agrahara where the father has been sending others, in the role of the conscience keepers of the state.

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Veteran freedom fighter HS Doreswamy, 97, de scribed Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao as a "man with a dead soul". Addressing the protest rally at Maurya Circle near Majestic, Doreswamy encouraged the protesters to continue the fight.

- - - Later, protesters including Doreswamy and former MLA and anti-land grab activist AT Ramaswamy were arrested near Maharani College during the rally and immediately let off. Justice Rao, however, remained conspicuous by his absence and is said to have gone on three-day leave.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

Absolutely commendable the commitment and spirit displayed by the likes of HS Doreswamy and Just Santosh Hegde (as also AT Ramaswamy) in the fight in the cause of the city and state, inspte of the constraints related to age. The lackadaisical response of the CM obviously raises questions about his complicity.

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A 35-year-old institution, the Karnataka Lokayukta, which was the first, and sometimes last, hope of a person seeking justice from corrupt politicians and government officials has been quietly buried with the constitution of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Karnataka took pride in this pioneering institution and in recent years the anti-corruption agency when headed by Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice N Venkatachala had invoked the fear of God in corrupt politicians and government staff.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

And, following are the excerpts from an interview of former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde, again in ToI (for full text, click here)

The political and bureaucratic classes are blatantly trying to protect themselves. With the ACB's creation, which will come directly under the purview of the state government, it's anybody's guess what will happen to charges of corruption against politicians and bureaucrats.

The LokAyukta institution has been systematically emasculated to a level where it's become totally impotent today - just a rehab centre for retired judges and government officials, as Justice Hegde has aptly put it.

Doesn't the civil society need to have a say in all of these matters? How come there's no institutional mechanism for that?

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The Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) defending Lokayukta cases in the Karnataka High Court has quit in a huff. On Thursday, Venkatesh P Dalwai resigned, accusing the state government of going slow in corruption cases involving influential people and the Lokayukta for not asserting its authority.

According to those in the know, Dalwai accused the government of trying to bail out corrupt bureaucrats and politicians by not appealing against their acquittal.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the New Indian Express, click here.

This is not doing any good to the already battered image of the Siddaramaiah government.

And, as if all of that was not enough, there's this ( New Indian Express report) unseemly tussle among the MLA's for "plum" postings. A question that arises here is wouldn't these come under the definition of "offices of profit", which has got the AAP government in Delhi into a bit of a spot?

All, in all, Siddaramaiah avaru, as also his lot, seem to have quite given up on the idea of getting re-elected. So, a scorched earth policy seems in operation currently.

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