New Ayukta: Bhardwaj, govt on collision course

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The Karnataka government and Governor H.R. Bhardwaj are on a collision course on the appointment of the new Lokayukta.

The post has been lying vacant for more than a month after Justice Shivaraj Patil resigned, peeved over claims that he and his family had violated site allotment norms.

Later the government recommended the name of former Kerala high court chief justice S.R. Bannurmath—a Lingayat— for the post but the governor has not yet given his nod to the proposal as there were unconfirmed reports that he too had violated land allotment norms.

Under pressure from former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda reportedly led a delegation of Lingayat ministers including women and child welfare minister, C.C. Patil, water resources minister, Basavaraj Bommai and Rajya Sabha MP, Prabhakar Kore on Thursday night to build pressure on the Governor.

The delegation urged Mr Bhardwaj to approve the candidature of Justice Bannurmath. According to sources, Mr Sadananda Gowda made it clear to the governor that his government had no plans to suggest yet another name for the post.

With Mr Bhardwaj making clear that he is in no mood to approve the candidature of Justice Bannurmath, a fresh controversy is brewing, sources said.

Justice Santosh Hegde who held the post before Justice Shivarja Patil, had submitted the controversial report on illegal mining which saw the exit of former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa from power in July this year.

The explosive report had indicted several top notch politicians including former ministers Gali Janardhan Reddy and B. Sreeramulu besides hundreds of bureaucracts for allegedly colluding with mine owners to illegally exploit the state’s mineral wealth.

Soon after the report was made public, Janardhan Reddy was arrested by the CBI and is presently lodged in a prison in Hyderabad. As for Yeddyurappa, he was arrested by the Lokayukta police for his alleged involvement in land scam cases a month ago and has just emerged from prison on bail.

Considering the nationwide outrage against corruption, it was natural that any nominee for the Lokayukta’s post would come under critical scrutiny.

With both Justice Patil and Justice Bannurmath facing charges of violating land allotment norms, it remains to be seen if the state will get a new Lokayukta in the near future—something crucial considering the scam cases being exposed every day, said sources.