JOIN USRestore Lokayukta, bring ACB under it
The once-powerful Karnataka Lokayukta, which had sent shivers down the spine of politicians and bureaucrats, was reduced to a toothless tiger by the Congress-led Siddaramaiah government in 2016, by withdrawing the powers of prosecution from the Lokayukta and vesting it with the newly formed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). We now see that this defanging has had the ‘desired’ results, with the already low conviction rate in corruption cases plummeting further. According to a statement by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the legislature, of the 1,814 cases booked since the ACB’s inception, it has been able to secure conviction of the accused in only 10 cases. Another 25 accused were tried and acquitted. Chargesheets were filed in 753 cases and 682 cases are under trial. But the failure to secure conviction begins long before chargesheets are filed and the accused are tried — when the government unduly delays, and sometimes never accords, sanctions for prosecution of corrupt officials. Such sanction is pending in at least 520 cases at last count, including in cases where the accused were caught red-handed. The ACB cannot be expected to act fearlessly either as it reports to the political executive, unlike the Lokayukta, which is an independent body. No wonder the strike rate of the Lok Ayukta was much better at 18%.
Another problem faced by the ACB is that many of its officers are not fully conversant with the legal process, disabling them from creating watertight cases. Of course, in some instances, the failure to do so could be deliberate, too. In the run-up to the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP had in its manifesto promised that it would scrap the ACB and once again empower the Lokayukta. Once in power, though, its mind changed, perhaps with the memory of the Lokayukta inquiry that had sent a BJP Chief Minister and several ministers to jail on corruption charges a few years ago.
Until 2016, the Lokayukta, which was set up in 1984 when Ramakrishna Hegde was Chief Minister, had its own police wing, ensuring a level of impartial probe and trial even against top politicians and high-ranking officers. This also partly insulated police officers from undue political and bureaucratic pressure. If the Bommai government is serious about fighting corruption, it should put the ACB under the control of the Lokayukta, post officers of high integrity to it and ensure that they are provided with adequate legal training to ensure a better conviction rate. It is high time the Lokayukta was restored to its original function and enhanced effectiveness.