Govt ignored pleas for security: Justice Hegde

The incident of a man stabbing Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanath Shetty inside the latter's chamber at his office in the M S Building on Wednesday has exposed glaring lapses in security at the building located close to the Vidhana Soudha.

Though a door-frame metal detector (DFMD) has been installed at the entrance of the building, it has not been working for the last three years, a Lokayukta employee told DH. If the DFMD would have detected Tejraj Sharma's metal knife, an incident like this could have been averted, the staff added.

Moreover, there are no baggage scanners or physical frisking of members of the public who enter the building in large numbers.

"Doors of the autonomous institution of the Lokayukta are open for any members of the public who wants to report or lodge a complaint about corruption in government offices, but not for those who walk in with weapons. Security should be tight at such institutions, which deal with corruption cases," said Saji Malayil, a senior advocate.

The Lokayukta institution was in the eye of a storm when after corruption allegations were made against the previous Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao. He had to finally step down as his son Y Ashwin and some Lokayukta employees were accused of using the Lokayukta office for running an extortion racket and were arrested.

Soon after the brouhaha, multiple CCTV cameras were installed at the Lokayukta office and the entrance reception desk was revamped with compulsory register entry and other surveillance measures. But, security measures were not looked into, sources said.

Former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde, after visiting an injured Justice Shetty at the hospital, told reporters that during his tenure he had brought this to the notice of the state government and had written at least 20 letters to them to install a new DFMD and deploy more number of security personnel. But,there was not even an acknowledgement.

"I also came to know that this man (Tejraj) had been frequenting the Lokayukta office over the last three-four days, which I assume is for getting prepared for the crime that he was going to commit," said Justice Hegde. "If these were true, then it amounts to negligence and an inquiry needs to be conducted in this regard,"   he added.

The state government's callous attitude towards this autonomous institution is a major matter of concern," Justice Hegde added.