JOIN USAnti Land-Grabbing Action Committee convenor A T Ramaswamy has urged Governor Vajubhai Vala to advise Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao to immediately step down from his post to uphold the dignity of the Lokayukta institution and to facilitate a fair enquiry.
In a four-page letter to Vala, Ramaswamy, who had come out with a detailed report on land grabbing that set the pace to retrieve common land, said the action was necessary because Karnataka had already been perceived as the most corrupt state in the country and world over. Not restoring faith in the institution of Lokayukta would only make this perception a reality, Ramaswamy said.
He demanded that the governor set aside the Central Crime Branch inquiry, ordered by the Lokayukta, and take suitable steps to get the matter investigated by a special investigation team, comprising members of ‘impeccable integrity’.
Ramaswamy quoted Upalokayukta Justice Subhash Adi who had said that when various cases against the Bengaluru CCB were pending before him, there was no reason to trust them to investigate corruption within the Lokayukta office.