'Bureaucrats, with blessings of some leaders, run govt'

Speaking to Deccan Herald, whose offices he visited for an exlcusive interaction with journalists, Justice Hegde said the sorry state of affairs in matters of governance was because the administration was being run by bureaucrats who enjoyed the blessings and protection of a section of (ruling party) leaders. “ They don’t give a damn”.

When asked whether in the backdrop of his description of the entire system as corrupt he would put Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa above board, Justice Hegde cryptically said: “No comments”. The outgoing Lokayukta, who swore that his decision to resign was final and “irrevocable”, said that he would much rather depend on investigations and documentary evidence before branding the Reddy brothers corrupt.

Countering Yeddyurappa’s claim that he had fulfilled three of his demands -- 30 per cent special allowance for the police force at his disposal, no reinstatement of suspended officials, and additional personnel – Justice Hegde said: “I will show you documents that barring the last none of the demands was met.”More specifically, the outgoing Lokayukta said he met Yeddyurappa and the chief secretary in March with a wish-list.

“He acceded to all the three demands and directed the chief secretary to carry them out. I returned to my office feeling triumphant. But later I found that there was only a 15 per cent hike in the special allowance for the police personnel. Also, the recommendation that no suspended official be reinstated was not implemented,” Justice Hegde said, adding: “A hero became a zero before his colleagues.”

Battle against corruption

Declaring candidly that he “has lost the battle against corruption”, Justice Hegde said “it is institutionalised” and is spreading faster than one could imagine.

Describing in detail his office’s investigation into the “theft” of over 500,000 metric tonnes of iron ore at Karwar and Belekeri port, Justice Hegde said: “We found that the permits in the possession of the truck drivers were all fake. A deeper probe could have revealed that the ore originated from Bellary, although we did succeed in seizing 40 gunny bags of documents.”

Petitions

Pegging the iron ore scam at Rs 2,000 crore, Justice Hegde said: “11 writ petitions were filed in different courts to allow the iron ore to be exported but that did not work.”

Questioning the locus standi of State Environment Minister Krishna Palemar, who ordered deputy conservator of forests R Gokul’s suspension, Justice Hegde said: “The chief minister says there is no illegal mining in Bellary. Tell me from where did the consignment lifted from Karwar and Belekeri come?”

As for the deputy conservator of forest R Gokul, who was instrumental in seizing the unaccounted for iron ore, Justice Hegde said: “He came to me a few days back when he was served with the suspension order. At that time, I told him I can do nothing for him, though later I felt very guilty.

“It was then that I decided on quitting. If I could not protect an officer, what am I doing as Lokayukta,” Justice Hegde asked.

Upa Lokayukta post

Asked why the Upa Lokayukta post has been lying vacant for a long time, Justice Hegde said: “The government must have earlier thought of appointing a Lingayat to the post. If a Lingayat becomes the Upa Lokayukta, the Lokayukta has to be from a different community. The government must have thought why to lose an opportunity to have a Lingayat in the top post and kept it pending. Now, the Lokayukta post is also vacant,” he said.

To a question whether his resignation was timed with the government’s completion of two years, Justice Hegde denied his decision to quit had anything to do with embarrassing the administration, saying: “I did not even know when the second anniversary of this government was to be,” he said, adding that he chose to resign with effect from August 31 because he wanted the government to choose his successor by that time.

“Another reason is that a few more investigations, including the tragic death of Sanjana Singh, had to be completed,” Justice Hegde said.