Karnataka Lokayukta corruption case: Lokayukta Rao says he won’t quit
BENGALURU: Though there is immense pressure from various organisations to step down, Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao announced that he had no intention of resigning. “I will not resign,” he said, defending himself by saying that the charge “was not directed against him and therefore, the question of resigning does not arise at all.”
He also batted for his son Ashwin Rao, who has been at the centre of the storm of allegations of the ‘Lok Ayukta scam’, and stands accused of extorting money from government officials, by saying that Ashwin was in the US Embassy in Hyderabad on the day when the alleged call was made.
Speaking to reporters at his office on Tuesday, Justice Rao said that he had cleared the case for a CCB probe, as he did not want people to think that the Lokayukta police would not take an impartial stand as he heads the institution.
“Later, I wrote to the government, asking them to form a Special Investigation Team to probe the case. Various organisations are accusing me of pressuring the Lokayukta police to not file FIR. But the fact is that the Lokayukta police cannot register any FIR in this case, as the case is with the state government,” Justice Rao said.
When reporters pointed out that when former Lokayukta Justice Shivaraj V Patil had resigned on moral grounds following allegations of owning two properties in the city, what was stopping him from stepping down, Justice Rao said, “In that case, the allegation was directly against Justice Patil and thus he tendered resignation. Whereas, in this case, the allegations are not directly against me. Thus, the question of resignation does not arise at all.”
He also came to the rescue of his son Ashwin Rao. “The allegation is that an extortion call was made on May 5. But, my son was in the US Embassy in Hyderabad on that day and we have documents for that. However, if the investigations find my son has a role in the case, he should be punished,” Justice Rao added.
Ashwin AWOL?
Has Lokayukta’s son Ashwin Rao, whose name has been doing the rounds in the alleged multi crore corruption scam, left the country? According to sources, Ashwin left for an overseas trip few days ago to avoid media glare and a possible legal action if his name figures in the investigation being conducted by the SP, Lokayukta (City) Sonia Narang.
