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Karnataka Lokayukta Webpage

Multi Store Building,
Dr, Ambedkar Vedhi,, Bangalore, Karnataka 500001, India
+91 80 22257013.

Website gives more info about complaints etc

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Some topics that caught my attention were

a ) Firstly all government officials must understand that they are "government servants" and its their duty to do work. and we citizens should not be treating them as gods.

b) All IAS & IPS officers must declare all assets & liabilities of 260 odd officers only 3 of them have done so so far

c) Sec 17 of book of prevention of corruption must be abolished, As this is an ancient law introduced by the British to protect their officers. There is another organisation (Transparency international) who are already working towards this. (can some one please give a pdf link to this document)

d) Today's law sees a Bribe Giver as an equal party to the crime. But the Bribe giver is sure to get arrested where as the Govt servant is likely to get away because of the immunity he enjoys.

e) If you complain to Lokayukta about a building construction violation, Lokayukta only has the powers to question the official in charge who approved the irregularity. However, one should press legal charges against the builder directly to stop the construction.

These points were elaborated with several real examples. Justice Santosh Hegde narrated to us some with big names too. I am not sure if i can go Verbatim on the same.

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PhotoYogi

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Hi All,

Our meeting began at about 13.00 with Mr.Riaz. We went into Justice Santosh Hegde's chambers at about 13.30 & the meeting ended at almost 15.15 hrs - quite long, detailed & very useful.

Justice Santosh Hegde was most welcoming & shared a lot of his ideas & narrated the many constraints that his office worked under. He also cited various examples, similar to the types that we get to hear everywhere.

The general impression we gathered were as follows :   Ministers are above the ambit of the LokAyukta. Top bureaucrats, though questionable, usually remained protected & are unassailable. Lower rungs of the bureaucracy are more vulnerable, & so, their targets usually lie here. However, even after exposure, they slither away as government does not usually take stringent action against them.

Suo Moto* powers were repeatedly being denied to LokAyukta by the government, & this was a big handicap for their work.

As Praveen mentioned, Justice Hegde had insisted that all IAS /IPS officers declare their assets, but this could not be enforced legally, & had resulted in only 3 of them coming forward to do so.

The "Whistleblower" law is still pending, as governments have still to move forward. Thus, there is no progress on this front.

Devesh had a suggestion to prepare & post FAQs on praja with help from LokAyukta's office for various hurdles that we face day to day, such as if someone were to apply for building license, but the same was not being passed, what options, including legal ones that he could take; Or if one were to encounter problems with say, public health centers demanding excess money, what recourse one could take, etc..

All in all, it was a great meeting. We remain better enlightened about their system & how it works. This had been explained with several examples for our better understanding.

(*Suo Moto is a legal Latin term, or more appropriately, "Sua Sponte", means "on its own motion". It is used, for example, where a government agency acts on its own cognizance, as in "the Commission took Suo Moto control over the matter").

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Dear admin, can you please post the contact details of the lokayukta here.
They are supposed to have a call in number, websites etc.
At least readers can get intouch with them
-- PhotoYogi

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