PIL in High Court over bribery charges

A PIL has been filed before the High Court seeking a CBI probe into allegations of extortion at the Lokayukta’s official residence and the office premises.

The petitioner, S Bhaskaran, and two others, have referred to media reports, including one that appeared in these columns last Friday, that a senior government official, who was reportedly summoned to the official residence of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, and later to a star hotel, was asked to cough up a bribe of Rs one crore.

The petitioners contended that Upalokayukta Justice Subhash Adi and former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde had opined that only the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could investigate the said matter impartially.

As the allegation is against Lokayukta’s son and the alleged incident has taken place in the official residence and office of the Lokayukta, the subordinate police force such as the Central Crime Branch and the CID cannot probe into the matter. Hence, only the investigating agency can probe the matter, they contended. The petition is yet to be heard by the High Court.