Govt has the power to order a judicial probe in land scam: Karnataka minister

"The scams prior to institution of the judicial probe would be investigated by anti-corruption watchdog Lokayukta, while cases registered after that would be probed by the commission," Karnataka Home Minister R Ashok said here, adding, the judicial commission will be headed by a retired high court judge.

Defending the state government's decision to institute the judicial probe into land scams, he said, "According to our Constitution, any government has the power to institute a judicial probe."

"There was a misconception in the minds of the people that BJP government was the only government to order a judicial inquiry into such scams. Several other governments had also instituted such probes into scams," he said on the sidelines of a function for armed forces personnel.

In a bid to avert a showdown with Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, who has objected to the judicial probe, the state government had yesterday said he would continue to hear the cases already under Lokayukta probe.

Earlier, he announced that the state government would issue free passes for city buses carrying a validity period of 10 years to families of armed forces personnel who had lost their breadwinner or who were wounded in combat. It would also subsequently consider such passes for the long distance buses.

In reply to a question on allotment of sites to armed forces personnel who were constantly on the move and were not domicile of the state, he said those who had mentioned Karnataka as their address during recruitment would be considered for the same.