Cong to put its weight behind Lokayukta

Addressing a joint press conference, KPCC president G Parameshwara and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah alleged that BJP MLAs were trying to intimidate Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde to drop the probe into the land scam, in which Chief Minister Yeddyurappa has been named.

“BJP MLAs have threatened to stage a protest in front of the Lokayukta office on behest of the Chief Minister. No Government or Chief Minister had stooped to this level, which amounts to humiliating the institution,” Siddaramaiah remarked.

Yeddyurappa has ordered a judicial probe headed by retired High Court judge Justice B Padmaraj in order to cover up his misdeeds. The judicial probe should be confined to land scams between 1996 and 2008.

The Lokayukta should be allowed to conduct its investigations into the scams alleged to have taken place during the tenure of Yeddyurappa, Parameshwara said.

He urged Justice Hegde against taking the extreme step of resigning from his post and to continue his work in the interest of the State.