Breaking his silence on the alleged bribery scandal in the Lokayukta, Lokayukta Justice Y. Bhaskar Rao on Friday announced that he has handed over the case to the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for further investigation.
In a press conference, Justice Rao, accompanied by Upa Lokayukta Justice S.B. Majage, said that the probe has been handed over to the CCB for an independent probe into the scandal.
"People would doubt the credibility of the probe results if it had been carried on by the Lokayukta police," he said adding that since the allegations are against the office of the Lokayukta, the police wing of Lokayukta will not entertain or enquire into any such complaints or any other matter.
The incident about the alleged corruption in the Lokaukta office surfaced after a PWD engineer said that a man, claiming to be Krishna Rao, called him and asked him to come to the Joint Commissioner, Lokayukta office, and demanded a bribe of Rs. 1 crore to prevent a Lokayukta raid against him.
Based on the complaint, Superintendent of Police (Lokayukta) Sonia Narang submitted a report to the Registrar on May 11, seeking permission for further probe.
Meanwhile, based on a complaint filed by Janaadhikara Sangharsha Parishath, a Bengaluru-based NGO, against Krishna Rao for allegedly demanding bribe from Executive Engineer of Zilla Panchayat Krishnamurthy, Upa Lokayukta Subhash B. Adi directed Sonia Narang to investigate and submit a detailed report, Mr. Rao said.
Mr. Rao said that, "Since some sections of the media alleged that the suspect is related to me, I have decided to take up a suo motu investigation invoking section 7(1)(b) of Karnataka Lokayukta Act and ordered probe into the issue by an outside agency having necessary technical competence."
Justice Rao clarified that he had never heard of Krishna Rao, who allegedly made calls posing as a Lokayukta officer, demanding bribe. "It has been alleged that Krishna Rao was my PA. I did not have any PA by this name nor do I know him," he said.
Referring to Ashwin Rao, another name that cropped up in Lokayukta corruption case, Justice Rao admitted that Ashwin Rao is his son but he has nothing to do with the case.
Reacting to the demands of his resignation, Mr. Rao said that he is ready to resign if found guilty in the probe.
Justice Rao said that he has not given any time-frame for the probe, but wanted the CCB to conduct the probe and submit a report to the Registrar of Lokayukta as expeditiously as possible.
