After two furious hours of debate on alleged bribery scandal in the Karnataka Lokayukta, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ruled out handing over investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) unless the body makes such a request to the Government.
Under section 15 (3) of the Lokayukta Act, the Government or the House has no powers to order a CBI probe into alleged corruption charges in the Lokayukta, unless the latter recommends to the Government, he said, in a reply to the debate in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
The Opposition stuck to its guns on the demand for a CBI probe into the scandal and filing of FIR against Ashwin Rao, son of Lokayukta Y. Bhaskar Rao, and other officials allegedly involved. Both BJP and JD (S) members argued that impartial probe into corruption charges would be possible only through the CBI. The BJP staged a walkout.
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“We can wait till the Special Investigation Team (SIT) submits its report,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said, adding that the Government was seriously considering strengthening the Lokayukta Act by amending it after consultations with legal experts. SIT headed by IPS officer Kamal Pant, ADGP, is currently conducting the probe.
Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra said that the High Court of Karnataka too seized the matter. “We have to tread the issue cautiously,” he said.
With advocates across the State staging protest seeking resignation of Justice Rao, the Lokayukta should have resigned by this time to uphold the agency’s reputation, said Mr. Shettar, C.T. Ravi, K.G. Bopaiah (all BJP), Ramesh Kumar (Congress), S.V. Datt (JD-S) demanded suitable amendments to the 1984 Act, which was formulated during the Ramakrishna Hegde regime.
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JD (S) floor leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, who read out Lokayukta SP Sonia Narang’s letter to the Registrar, also demanded the CBI probe. The Government would hush-up the case if it was not handed over to the CBI, he said.