Justice P. Vishwanatha Shetty turned teary-eyed as he defended himself against allegations that his family owns multiple properties, in his maiden press conference after taking charge as the new Lokayukta on Saturday evening.
“All the three properties in question were bought by my family members before I was appointed a High Court judge in 1995, and no norms have been violated. I am deeply pained. I have come here as Lokayukta sacrificing a successful practice as a Supreme Court advocate since all the constitutional functionaries of the State unanimously chose me,” Mr. Shetty said.
He further clarified that while he had indeed appeared on behalf of Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar and the former Minister G. Janardhan Reddy, who had cases pending against them in the Lokayukta, he would recuse himself from those cases. “As a High Court judge, we would recuse ourselves from cases in which we had appeared as advocates. The same will apply here. I will transfer them to one of the Upalokayuktas,” he said.
Mr. Shetty said that his prime focus would be to redress the problems of the common people with respect to mal-administration.
When quizzed about the steps he would take to restore the credibility of the Lokayukta post that has been marred by a bribery scandal, he said the only way forward was to first boost the morale and moral conviction of the staff of the Lokayukta to strengthen the institution. “This is a new beginning and we will focus on strengthening the institution,” he assured. Mr. Shetty refused to comment on the formation of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and perceived attempts to weaken the Lokayukta as an institution. “The matter is sub judice and it’s not wise to comment on it. But, I don’t feel the powers of the Lokayukta are curtailed since the Karnataka Lokayukta Act is untouched,” he said.
Court grants bail to Bhaskar Rao
The former Lokayukta, Y. Bhaskar Rao, accused of playing a role in the bribery scandal of his son, and alleged cover-up later, was granted conditional bail by the Special Lokayukta Court on Saturday.
Justice D.T. Devendran of the Special Lokayukta Court imposed a surety of ₹.1 lakh and two guarantors for the bail, on the condition that Mr. Rao doesn’t indulge in either threatening or tampering with evidence in the case. Mr. Rao’s writ before the Karnataka High Court, to quash the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed charge sheet against him, was recently dismissed by the High Court with directions to appeal before the Lokayukta court.
