Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE PUPPET INSTITUTION! HEADLESS SINCE MONTHS, LOKAYUKTA IS FUTILE IN KARNATAKA

                                   

Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

15th April 2012 issue-

   THE PUPPET INSTITUTION!

HEADLESS SINCE MONTHS, LOKAYUKTA IS FUTILE IN KARNATAKA

The Lokayukta institution in Karnataka has outlived its utility. Except some sound bites and stunts by former Lokayukta Venkatachala and Santosh Hegde, there is nothing much to boast of. The Lokayukta has not done anything positive to fight corruption except raiding and trapping few officials. With the BJP government openly hostile to the previous Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, not much could be achieved. As the Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta are political appointments, controversies are bound to surface. Now that the High Court Division Bench has made it mandatory to appoint Lok/Upa Ayukta with consultation/concurrence of the Chief Justice, one cannot find fault with the government if it does not appoint Lok/Upa Ayukta. Then, it is better to wind up the Lokayukta institution itself and opt for Vigilance Commission....

Of late, the Lokayukta institution is losing its credibility. The Lokayukta is appointed among the retired judges of the Supreme Court or Chief Justices of the High Court and the Upa Lokayukta is appointed among the retired judges of the High Court. Both are required to combat corruption among the bureaucracy and politicians in power. For the last 27 years, five Lokayukta have completed their tenure and for the first time, a second Upa Lokayukta was also appointed. The appointment procedure for Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta is similar. It is the Chief Minister who appoints the person after consultation with the Chief Justice, leader of opposition and presiding officers of both houses. Finally it is the choice of the CM that matters.

But, what has the Lokayukta achieved in the last 27 years? Justice Koshal was the first Lokayukta who was dubbed by the then Congress leader Nage Gowda as the Hero of the then CM, R. K. Hegde. He was succeeded by Ravindranath Pyne, who simply could do nothing except spending his tenure as leisure. Next was Justice Hakim, who was made the Chief Justice of the High Court for 8 days before his retirement to make him eligible for the post. And immediately after his retirement, he was appointed as the Lokayukta. But, it was Venkatachala, who made big noise about the existence of the Lokayukta. He led the raids on government offices, officials etc. with much fanfare and publicity.

During Venkatachala’s tenure, the practice of sending the raided/trapped officials to jail for at least a couple of days before issuing a bail came into practice. Venkatachala also prevented the government in appointing Upa Lokayukta for more than three years and functioned as the Upa Lokayukta himself. But, when the government finally appointed an Upa Lokayukta, Venkatachala had a running feud with him.

When Santosh Hegde became the Lokayukta, he too raided big officials and there cries of miscarriage of justice in some cases also. It can be defended by the statement of its SP Madhukar Shetty, who admitted rampant corruption in the institution. Whatever, the most important achievement of Santosh Hegde is his Mining scam report! It is an open secret that the entire BJP government including the then CM B.S.Yeddyurappa was hostile to him. It was on this Mining report that made Yedurappa, an ex-CM.

However, before Santosh Hegde’s retirement, Yedurappa who was still the CM, appointed Justice Shivaraj Patil as the Lokayukta with a view to weaken the Lokayukta. But, within 45 days, Shivaraj Patil resigned owing to a site scandal. Yedurappa also created a second Upa Lokayukta and appointed R.Gururajan, but, he also resigned allegedly over a site controversy.

After a long vacuum, Sadananda Gowda government, then proposed former Chief Justice Bannurmath to the Lokayukta post, but, the Governor said a firm no. Then, Sadananda appointed Justice Chandrashekaraiah as the Second Upa Lokayukta. And the other day, the High Court quashed the appointment of Chandrashekaraiah as the Upa Lokayukta on the pretext that the government had not consulted the Chief Justice. The High Court had also set guidelines for the appointment of Lok/Upa Lokayukta. As per these guidelines, the Chief Justice has to send a name and the CM has to approve in consultation with the leaders of opposition and Presiding Officers of the legislature. If the name is rejected, the CM has to send a request to the Chief Justice to suggest another name. In reality, the appointment of Lokayukta/Upa Lokayukta has come under the domain of judiciary. And as on now, there is no last word yet, as the final word will have to come from the Supreme Court.

Whatsoever, the Lokayukta institution is headless as the government has not filled up the post for the last seven months. The Upa Lokayukta Majage is holding the fort as in charge Lokayukta also. It may be recalled that Majage’s appointment is also challenged in the High Court and the matter is pending for more than a year. The government may not appoint the Lokayukta in the near future as it will wait for the Supreme Court order.

As such, people have lost faith in the Lokayukta and the politicians in power are trying to have their own favorites to be in the Lokayukta. So, the Lokayukta has lost its relevance by outliving its utility and it is time, the government winds up the Lokayukta institution. Compared to Lokayukta, the vigilance commission that existed before the Lokayukta formation was doing a commendable job. If the government is sincerely serious on the corruption issue, than, it should rather bring back the Vigilance Commission with additional powers. And that would definitely fit the bill. 

That is all.