Indian
Express: National: Monday, 23 November 2015.
Karnataka
Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao is on long leave. No, he’s not indisposed,
technically speaking, though it has been more than 100 days since he last
attended office. How can he when his son is behind bars for allegedly running
an extortion racket that leveraged on his authority to crack down on corruption
by government officials?
The long and
seemingly unending uncertainty over his status following the serious corruption
allegations against his son has left the institution of Lokayukta, which the
common man looked up to and had great faith in, considerably weakened. But few
among the political class are complaining, and not without reason. An impotent
Lokayukta is what they have always wished for and the Bhaskar Rao episode was
truly a godsend.
Rao’s son Y
Ashwin was arrested on July 28 this year on charges of demanding `1 crore from
a government engineer, who faced allegations of corruption. As more skeletons
tumbled out of his closet, it became clear that Ashwin presided over a well-entrenched
network, allegedly operating from his father’s office. The racket is said to
have involved a group filing Right to Information (RTI) applications to get
dirt on corrupt officials, another threatening them and the third demanding
huge sums of money to prevent anti-graft proceedings against them.
So far, three
chargesheets have been filed against Ashwin and his associates, and
investigators claim to have enough proof to nail him in the form of
confessional statements, call records and travel details.
Rao went on
leave a day before Ashwin’s arrest, and has since then extended his leave five
times so far. While all parties agree that he must go, there’s no unanimity on
how and when. After dithering for long, legislators belonging to the BJP and JD(S)
have moved petitions in the State Assembly and Legislative Council to impeach
him, a move that will ensure his suspension, if not immediate removal.
Curiously, the ruling Congress is not a party to the move.
The Lokayukta
as an institution to deal with complaints of corruption against government
officials came into being in Karnataka way back in 1986, when Janata Party’s
Ramakrishna Hegde was Chief Minister. The Lokayukta Act of 1984, fallout of an
election promise by Hegde, was a strong law, bringing even the Chief Minister
under its ambit.
But it was
only when Justice N Venkatachala became Lokayukta in 2001 that it unleashed its
full potential. While Venkatachala’s term saw a series of raids on officials
and government offices, giving him the image of an anti-corruption crusader,
his successor, Justice Santosh Hegde, used the law to nail even the corrupt
among the political class. It was Hegde’s report on illegal mining of iron ore
that led to the resignation of B S Yedyurappa as Chief Minister in 2011.
As political
parties and leaders found themselves at the receiving end, they plotted and
came up with various plans to weaken the anti-corruption watchdog. While their
successive efforts to dilute the law came to naught, the Justice Bhaskar Rao
case has handed them a stick to beat the institution of Lokayukta into
submission.
The
indecisiveness on the part of the State government and political parties on how
to deal with Justice Rao should be seen in this context. To put it bluntly,
none of them want a strong Lokayukta. So, it is in their interest if the matter
drags on, in the event leaving the institution potentially impotent.
The latest
move by the parties to impeach him doesn’t mean people will see the back of
Lokayukta Rao anytime soon. There’s a long process involved that brings the two
Houses of the State Legislature and the Karnataka High Court into the picture.
The State government amended the Lokayukta Act soon after the extortion racket
was exposed in a bid to clear an ambiguity in law and make it easier to remove
the anti-corruption ombudsman. But nothing happened for the next three months
till the MLAs and MLCs signed petitions last week seeking Rao’s impeachment.
Even now, if
the State legislature fails to pass the resolution or if there is a delay in
further proceedings, it is possible that Rao will complete his five-year term
without once attending office.
To further
muddy the waters, the Congress is said to be preparing to move a similar
resolution to remove Upa Lokayukta Justice Subhash Adi, who has been accused of
encroaching on the jurisdiction of his former colleague S B Majage to favour a
doctor in a corruption case. If that happens, the Lokayukta will become
practically defunct in a State that always took pride in the fact that it was
one of the first to put in a system to battle corruption.
So, more than
three decades after the government led by Ramakrishna Hegde, who swore by
probity in public life, enacted the law that gave people the hope and a chance
to take on corrupt officials, the institution he put in place is under the
threat of crumbling, undermined by his political successors who are laying
claim to his legacy.
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