'Govt in hurry to implement Lokayukta Act'

The government is seeking to implement the Lokayukta Act 2014 in a haste in order to protect the interests of corrupt IAS officers, activist S R Hiremath has alleged.

Addressing media persons here on Monday, he said the Lokayukta Act 2014 had several loopholes. With the implementation of the Act, neither the Lokayukta police nor the officials will be able to function freely. Former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde had already given a report in this regard, but the government had not considered his recommendations, he alleged.

Mysore Minerals Limited’s former managing directors V Umesh, I R Perumal, D C Ashwath, Jija Harisingh, Mahendra Jain, K S Manjunath among others were charged with causing to the company a loss of more than Rs 600 crore in the first report on illegal mining given by Justice Hegde. The government, which has not taken action against the officials named in the first report, has constituted a special team to look into the second report on illegal mining. This raises concerns about the government’s intentions on whether it wants to protect the officers named in the first report given by Justice Hegde, he said.

He said before the Act was implemented, it should be put up for public debate. The public should be given two months’ time to give their suggestions, Hiremath said.