BENGALURU: An amendment to the Lokayukta Act, with regard to appointment and removal of the Lokayukta and Upalokayukta, was passed in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
The amendment was moved by law minister T.B. Jayachandra, changing the provision from a motion supported by two-thirds of the legislators for removal of the Lokayukta or Upalokayukta to simple majority of the House.
The government, however, was forced to retain the clause on two-thirds majority of the House as leaders of Opposition parties expressed their apprehension that the ruling party could misuse the clause and thus weaken the institution.
The House was unanimous on removal of Justice Bhaskar Rao but the legislators had different views on the process to be adopted. Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa was particularly harsh while speaking about Justice Rao, saying he brought “disgrace to the institution.”
During the discussion on the amendment, some legislators demanded that the institution of Lokayukta be dissolved while others said the government should restrict the scope of amendment only to removal of Lokayukta and Upalokayutka. In the end, Mr Kagodu Thimmappa convened a meeting of floor leaders of all the parties to discuss about removal of Justice Rao.
Earlier, Mr Jayachandra said the government had introduced the amendment only on removal of Lokayukta and Upalokayukta on proved misconduct and appointment to these two posts.
There were other methods to deal with anti-corruption, including the Prevention of Corruption Act, RTI and SAKAL. The government was ready for a debate on the issue of corruption but it could also be done during a special session of legislature.
Participating in the debate, Mr K.R. Ramesh Kumar, Mr Basavaraj Rayareddy and Mr K.B. Koliwad (Congress) urged the government to scrap the institution as it had turned into a cesspool of corruption. A few other legislators, however, said the institution should not be disbanded because of one case of misconduct. Mr S. Suresh Kumar, BJP, wondered when it would be ideal to cut an arm because of an injured nail.
Prof B.K. Chandrashekar opposes amendment
Pointing out that an amendment to the Lokayukta Act files in the face of the Lokpal Bill tabled by the Congress-led UPA government in parliament, former minister and KPCC vice-president Prof B.K. Chandrashekar on Thursday requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to reconsider the move in view of the opinion of people across the state that the institution should be strengthened and that the Lokayukta should not be reduced to a puppet in the hands of any political party.
In a letter to Mr Siddaramaiah, copies of which were released to the media, Prof Chandrashekar who was part of the team which drafted the Lokayukta Act under the leadership of the late Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde in 1984, said any amendment should be made keeping its long-term impact in mind. Welcoming the move to constitute the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe corruption in the institution of Lokayukta, he said the government has evidently proposed the amendments—on procedure for removal and appointment of Lokayukta and Upalokayukta— under tremendous pressure though people were of the opinion that the institution should be strengthened.
He said with regard to removal of Lokayukta or Upalokayukta on charges of proved misconduct or incapacity, the original Act listed a two-step process including one that two-thirds of the members present and voting in the House must support the motion along with provisions under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, but the amendment proposed the support on only one-third of the members besides doing away with the Judges (Inquiry) Act, a move which could make the Lokayukta or Upalokayukta vulnerable to pressures from the ruling party.
