Hegde flays govt for delay in appointment

Former Loka­yukta Justice N Santosh Hegde has criticised the State government for the delay in appointing the Lokayukta.

Addressing students at a private function here on Tuesday, Justice Hegde said the post had remained vacant for four months, affecting the functioning of the ombudsman. He said there was no dearth of eligible candidates, but the government was not keen on selecting any.

Justice Hegde admitted that the anti-graft institution also had some corrupt police officers. During his tenure as Lokayukta, action against such officers were taken and they were sent back to their parent department, he said referring to remarks of senior police officer Madhukar Shetty.

“He (Shetty) could have shared it (his complaints) with me. But, he disclosed it to a regional daily. After a gap of six months, the daily published the interview of Madhukar Shetty, only to defame me.

The remarks were ill-timed and mischievous. Later, I came to know that the editor of the regional daily has been indicted in the final report on illegal mining,” he said. The police officers are not hired by the ombudsman, but they are deputed by the government, the former Lokayukta said. “I had indicted such corrupt police officers in the report,” he added.