Bhaskar Rao sworn in as Lokayukta

I do not know of any allegations against him: Governor

Justice Y Bhaskar Rao was on Thursday sworn in as the Karnataka Lokayukta.After the swearing-in ceremony, Governor H R Bhardwaj said institutions matter more than the individuals and that he could not have allowed the post of the Lokayukta to remain vacant any longer.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the event, the Governor said: “I do not know of any allegations against him. Individuals do not matter, institutions do, and I want all the institutions in the state to function well.”

He was reacting to a question on the appointment of the new Lokayukta who had reportedly availed himself a site in the Judicial Layout, registered jointly in favour of his wife Aruna and him in 1999 when he was the chief justice of the Karnataka High Court.

“According to the Constitution, my job is to see that the consultation process was completed in line with the prescribed rules and that having been done, there was nothing I could do. I am happy that the government took this decision as the post has been vacant for many months now. We could not keep it vacant for too long, there was public outcry,” he said.

Fourth pillar

“Let him work,then we can asses the performance, the media is there and it is your job as the fourth pillar to assess performances of such offices. But, first, let him work,” he said.

Justice Rao, who spoke on the sidelines, answering a question said: “I will make all my assets public. It will be up on the website.”

On what would be the roadmap for the institution, which has several pending cases, especially in the last year or so, he said: “You will see once we begin our work.”