The battle over a probe into the alleged corruption in the Lokayukta office turned murkier on Monday, with the Upalokayukta and Lokayukta issuing contradictory orders to the Lokayukta police.
Hours after Upalokayukta Subhash B. Adi issued fresh directions on Monday to Sonia Narang, Superintendent of Police, Lokayukta, Bengaluru, to continue her probe into the scandal, Lokayukta Y. Bhaskar Rao directed Ms. Narang to stop the investigation immediately.
After returning from his four-day trip to Udupi, Mr. Adi said his orders of June 23 was still in force and asked Ms. Narang to submit a report by July 4.
Ms. Narang, accordingly, restarted the probe in earnest and the team was verifying a host of mobile numbers used by the suspects and closing in on them, when Mr. Rao issued orders to stall the probe again.
This drew sharp criticism from Mr. Adi.
“What is important is an investigation into the corruption scandal that is eroding the institution’s credibility. Everybody seems to be passing the buck. Investigation aims only to seek the truth. Why should anybody intervene in seeking the truth?” he said.
Now, the State legislature session is on. We will take an appropriate decision on the matter in a few days.
Siddaramaiah
Chief Minister
