Lokayukta refuses to make U V Singh report public

Non-disclosure sparks rumours about move to protect guilty officers

Lokayukta Shivaraj Patil told Deccan Herald on Wednesday: “We have already submitted the report to the chief secretary’s office. We cannot make it public as the government is the custodian of the inquiry report.”

In sharp contrast, copies of the main text of the report prepared by Justice Santosh Hegde were made public after the submission of the report to the government.

The registrar of the Lokayukta on Wednesday said: “If you want that copy (the main text), I can give it to you after you file an RTI application.”

On whether Chief Conservator of Forests U V Singh’s report, which is the basis of Hegde’s report and names the 787 officials, can be obtained through RTI, he said: “No, we are not the custodians of the report. We have submitted it to the government on July 27, making them the custodians and only they can make it public.”

It has been over 15 days since Hegde released his second mining report indicting top politicians, including former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. But nobody has been able to identify the bureaucrats named in the report.

Hegde’s report named only politicians. It did not name even some of the key bureaucrats or police officers.

The delay in making the report public has led to speculations that there is a move to protect some officials named by Singh in his inquiry report.

Asked why the CDs of Hegde’s main report were handed out to the media and not Singh’s report, Patil said: “I took charge on August 3. I do not know why my predecessor had done that. But for now, the report you want can be made public only by the government. That is the decision taken.”

“Towards the end of Hegde’s tenure, the reports were despatched in a hurry to the government as he was scheduled to retire on August 3. We didn’t make CDs of the other part (which includes the officials’ names) and the hard copy is submitted to the government,” the registrar said in “defence.”

The explanation was given to Deccan Herald despite the fact that the main highlights of the report, disclosed by Hegde, were based on this particular 900-page inquiry report and is available at the Lokayukta office in a CD for citizens who wish to avail a copy under the RTI.

Justice Patil, however, said he has a copy of the inquiry report which he is studying. “I assure you that I will go deep into the entire case. Currently, I am looking into the Governor’s statement, the Singh inquiry report, the Lokayukta law, and putting together the next course of action,” he said.