Days after appointment, Lokayukta shunts out chief engineer over pending cases

Bengaluru: The Lokayukta on Tuesday shunted out T D Nanjundappa who was appointed as its chief engineer despite being an accused in multiple cases being probed by the anti-corruption agency.

Nanjundappa, who was waiting for the posting, took charge as Lokayukta chief engineer following an order issued on March 15. However, a complainant in one of the cases pending against the officer filed a petition questioning the posting.

In an order, Lokayukta Justice B S Patil said the chief engineer has been relieved from the duties of the organisation in view of the cases pending against him.

Patil said a notice was served to the officer following the complainant's petition.

"He (Nanjundappa) has given his explanation on March 26. After considering the same and after realising that there are three additional cases pending against him in the Lokayukta, he has been relieved from service in this organisation," the order said.

'Government must consult'

Justice Patil further said that Nanjundappa was appointed without any consultation with the Lokayukta office. "The government is requested to consult and take approval from this organisation before appointing a chief engineer," he said, adding that the order would not prejudice any case against the accused officer.

The move came after Ramakrishnegowda, a complainant in the case pertaining to scam in a civil work, wrote to the Lokayukta about the conflict of interest in appointing an accused as the chief engineer of the organisation.

The petitioner also pointed to an investigation report in which Nanjundappa, who was the chief engineer of the Karnataka Housing Board at the time, was accused of 'dereliction of duty' in matters related to clearing the files. This had prompted the Lokayukta to look into the pending cases against Nanjundappa.