JOIN USAn official communication to this effect was dispatched to Raj Bhavan on Wednesday evening, secretariat sources said. The governor is in New Delhi. He will be returning to Bangalore on November 1.
The post of the Lokayukta has been vacant for the last one month after Justice Shivaraj Patil resigned following a controversy over allotment of housing sites for him and his wife allegedly in violation of rules.
Justice Bannurmath has served as judge of Karnataka High Court. He was sworn-in as Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala in March 2009.
Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda had written twice to the Opposition party leaders to suggest the names of judges for the post. The Congress did not respond but demanded that the government should convene a meeting. Gowda did not respond to the demand but said the Opposition could write to him.
Assets
Justice Bannurmath was appointed as the chief justice of Kerala High Court in March 2009. In his recently declared assets and liabilities statement, he owns a house built on 60x100 ft in Judicial Officers Layout, Bangalore. He owns two buildings on Bannurmath Road, Jagalipet, Dharwad district. While one is a mutt building of 255 sq mts, another has been shown as a residential building of 200 sq mts.
He has declared bank deposits of Rs 5,27,206, while he owns gold jewellery of 20 gms and a diamond ring. He also owns a kg of silverware. He has shares worth Rs 9,74,381.
Justice Bannurmath’s wife Shylaja has bank deposits of Rs 4,23,357 and a fixed deposit of Rs five lakh. She owns 945 gm of gold, a pair of diamond ear studs and a ring. She also has 1.5 kg of silver articles.
Vacant posts
The government is buying time to fill the vacant top posts in the Lokayukta police wing. The posts of DIG and two SPs (IPS rank) are vacant besides 10 posts of SPs in districts.
After IPS officer Madhukar Shetty, who was SP with the Lokayukata police, went on a two-year leave in July, the post has not been filled up. After the transfer of Pranab Mohanty as DIG, the post has been left vacant.