Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde will soon send a White Paper to Union Minister for Law and Justice M. Veerappa Moily detailing the work he has done.
The Lokayukta announced this at an interaction on ‘India against corruption' here on Sunday. The announcement came as a reaction to reported statements of Mr. Moily here on Saturday. The Minister was quoted as saying that Mr. Hegde was only making statements and had given up on many cases abruptly.
“I am talking and working. I don't know in what context he [Mr. Moily] made those statements. If he shows me evidence that I have not done any work, I am ready to quit even before my term ends in the next five months,” Mr. Hegde said.
“I think he has forgotten that it was I who argued for him and got him out of the JMM scam [bribery case] in a Delhi court when he was the Karnataka Chief Minister without charging a fee,” he said. Expressing displeasure over the Jan Lokpal Bill, Mr. Hegde, when asked if he would agree to be one of the three judges in the panel, said he would not like to be part of it in its present form. “The Lokpal Bill is a fraud. The government decided to move it only because it wants to cover up all the scams.”
Campaigners of ‘India against corruption' and other organisations will take out ‘Dandi March 2' on March 26, demanding the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
The global march will be taken out in 11 cities in the U.S. and 12 cities in India. In Bangalore, the march will begin at Sirsi Circle and end at the Gandhi statue on M.G. Road.
Misquoted: Moily
PTI reports:
Meanwhile, Mr. Moily has denied the reported adverse remarks on Mr. Hegde and said he had been “misquoted” and that he was “extremely sorry for it.”
In a letter to Mr. Hegde, a copy of which was released to the media, he referred to a newspaper report and said, “I clearly deny the statement and it is only a creation of the press and I have never spelt out such a title. [which read ‘Justice Hegde tiger in SC, Cat in State: Moily'].”
Mr. Moily said he had high regard for Mr. Hegde's scholarship in the field of law and for his impeccable honesty and integrity for bringing good governance in the State.
“I strongly feel that such an isolated statement should not spoil our relationship. I feel the statement appearing in the press has strongly hurt you. I am extremely sorry for it and one such misquoted statement should not strain our relationship,” he said.
