Guv rubs govt the wrong way again

“The only forum competent to investigate offences is the police. The Lokayukta institution has a police wing and has the powers to conduct any inquiry. But the government has ordered a judicial inquiry to create confusion,” the governor said on the sidelines of an event in Bangalore.

Objection

Bhardwaj’s comments come in support of Lokayukta Justice (retired) Santosh Hegde who had objected to the BJP government ordering the probe headed by a retired high court judge when the matter was pending before him.

 Bhardwaj said that according to a 1993 Supreme Court ruling in the V Narayan case, the police are the competent authority to investigate offences. “The Lokayukta is investigating the issue. It will unearth the truth,” he said.

This comes as a further embarrassment to Yeddyurappa, who had forwarded Katta Subramanya Naidu’s letter of resignation from the post of IT and BT minister to the governor.

Katta submitted resignation after the Lokayukta police registered an FIR against him and nine others, including his son Katta Jagadish, in a multi-crore scam involving purchase and compensation pertaining to Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board land.  

Yeddyurappa also faces a notice the Lokayukta served on him, seeking his views on a complaint filed by the JD(S) on land scams.

“It is not right to create an anti-corruption institution like the Lokayukta and enforce restriction on it; the government must not have any mistrust in the Lokayukta,” the governor said.

He said as per his duty as the governor, he has been reporting about state government’s political situation to the President every month.

Asked about the land scam which led to the resignation of Katta, he said: “I do not want to react about what is happening. Ministers are also not listening to my advice. When I raised the illegal mining issue, there was criticism that I was misusing my position. I will leave it to people to judge.”