Karnataka Lokayukta corruption case: People lose faith in an institution
Bengaluru: Security was beefed up around the Lokayukta office on Wednesday after Bar Council members held protests demanding the resignation of Lokayukta V. Bhaskar Rao. As the controversy raged, media people were barred entry from the office.
Mysteriously, Joint Commissioner, PRO, Lokayukta, Syed Riyaz and Lokayukta Registrar H.V. Deshpande have gone on an indefinite leave from Wednesday. Sources said both will be on leave for at least 15 days starting Wednesday. Lokayukta Justice Y. Bhaskar Rao and the two Upalokayuktas, Subhash Adi and S.B. Majage, reported to work as usual. The police whisked them away as soon as they arrived even as the media people rushed to talk to them.
Representatives of a number of organisations and the public walked into the office throughout the day to register complaints. Sources said that the office functioned normally and the complaints were registered and cases filed. One of the advocates who met both Justice Rao and Justice Adi said that they were busy going through the newspapers in their respective chambers.
Some complainants who had come to the Lokayukta office from Chikkamagaluru told Deccan Chronicle that they were disheartened with the latest developments in the anti-corruption institution. “We have lost a little bit of our faith in the Lokayukta. Now we understand why certain cases were taking so long and no action was taken against the accused government officials for years,” said one of them.
“I had a complained against Somla Naik, a shristedar in Tarikere in Chikkamagaluru, who had taken a bribe for a property dispute within our family. I lodged a complaint and I have been visiting the Lokayukta office for some years now. I have not seen any action taken against him, as he continues in the same position. I suspect that he paid the Lokayukta officials to avoid action. He is a notorious government official in Tarikere. Several complaints have been filed against him in the Lokayukta,” said Indira, a complainant from Tarikere in Chikkamagaluru.
Another complainant Sharadamma, from Tiptur, said, “I am beginning to lose faith in the Lokayukta. I was cheated of my money by a government official in Tiptur and I have been running around for the last ten years without any success. I now think that he has paid off the Lokayukta officials to stop any disciplinary action against him.”
Honnappa, a farmer from Tarikere, Chikkamagaluru, said that he had approached the Lokayukta as his wife, who works at a government hospital, was being harassed by other workers at the hospital. “I doubt whether I will get any justice from this institution anymore,” he said.
Never sought any help for ayukta posting: Sonia Narang
What was the role of Lokayukta’s son Ashwin Rao in the appointment of an IPS officer in the Lokayukta? In an interview to a newspaper he has stated that Superintendent of Police Lokayukta (City wing) Sonia Narang had sought his help last year for posting in the Lokayukta.
Ms. Narang said that she was twice called to the residence of the Lokayukta in September last year to meet him, but instead of the Lokayukta, Ashwin Rao met her and asked her if she would like to be posted to the Lokayukta.
Lokayukta SP Sonia Narang at the Lokayukta office on Wednesday morning (Photo: DC)
“I didn’t go there on my own. I had received a call stating that it was from the Lokayukta’s residence and that the Lokayukta would like to meet me. When I went there I met Ashwin Rao. I didn’t know who he was. He asked me if I would like to be posted to the Lokayukta. I told him that my posting was government’s prerogative and that if I am posted to the Lokayukta I would work to uphold the dignity of the institution. I at no point sought his help because there are clear guidelines on appointment of officers to the Lokayukta. Does he mean that he was interfering in the posting of officers in the Lokayukta? As far as my knowledge goes, I was posted by the government and I am willing to go wherever the government posts me,” said Narang.
Ashwin’s alleged statement in the newspaper interview that she had approached him for posting in the Lokayukta is a damaging statement about his role in the appointment of officers, including IPS officers in the Lokayukta police, because he has no locus standi. Was he working as an extra-constitutional authority in the anti corruption ombudsman needs to be probed.
FIR against Ashwin Rao
The Lokayukta police (city wing) on Wednesday registered an FIR against Ashwin Rao alias Krishna Rao, son of Bhaskar Rao in the Lokayukta Court. Ashwin Rao is the son of Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao and the FIR against him is based on the identification and a written complaint filed by the executive engineer, Zilla Parishath, Krishnamurthy on June 30.
Mr Krishnamurthy had earlier on May 7 complained to the SP, Lokayukta police (city wing), Sonia Narang, about the extortion racket in the Lokayukta. In his complaint, he has alleged that Ashwin had impersonated as Krishna Rao and called him to the office of the Joint Commissioner, Public Relations, Lokayukta on May 4 from a mobile phone number 906****213 and demanded a hefty bribe of Rs 1 crore to prevent a Lokayukta raid, but he refused to pay the bribe.
The phone is, however, not registered in Ashwin Rao’s name. Mr Krishnamurthy had earlier desisted from filing a written complaint, but after watching the television grab of Ashwin Rao, he identified him as ‘Krishna Rao’ and submitted a written complaint to the SP on Tuesday. Ms Narang had taken cognisance of his verbal complaint and written to the Registrar about the scam, but no action was taken on the complaint until Upalokayukta Justice Subhash Adi acted on another complaint of internal corruption and asked the SP to probe the scam and submit the report to him before July 6. Justice Rao was not available for his comments.
