The National Committee For Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) and the Jan Sangram Parishat (JSP) have said that the Karnataka Legislature should pull up Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra and hold them accountable for weakening the Lokayukta by setting up the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and for “deliberate” misinterpretation and misleading reading of a Supreme Court order for the purpose.
Questionable order
Addressing presspersons here on Monday, S.R. Hiremath, founder president of NCPNR, alleged that the deliberate misinterpretation of the Supreme Court order dated July 21, 1998 was aimed at saving the skin of ministers including the Chief Minister.
“The questionable government order dated March 14, 2016, for taking the powers of the Lokayukta police and vesting it with the ACB was issued through deliberate misinterpretation of the apex court order. An obvious question is how and why the Director-General of Police woke up 18 years after the apex court judgement (There is a reference to the DGP’s letter in the GO on forming the ACB. The GO is based on the DGP’s letter.) Another serious question is whether the Chief Minister and the government are upholding the letter and spirit of the judgement dated July 21, 1998 or are acting against it,” Mr. Hiremath said.
Quoting the apex court judgement he said, “When such authorities consist of high judicial dignitaries it would be obvious that such authorities should be a med with appropriate powers and sanctions so that their orders and opinions do not become mere paper directions. The decisions of the Lokayukta and the Upalokayukta, therefore, must be capable of being fully implemented. These authorities should not be reduced to mere paper tigers but must be armed with proper teeth and claws so that the efforts put in by them are not wasted and their reports are not shelved by the disciplinary authorities concerned.”
“The retrograde GO does exactly the opposite by taking away the Lokayukta Police from the administrative control of the Lokayukta and effectively leading to the end of Lokayukta institution by bringing ACB under government control, whose primary motive appears to be to protect the corrupt,” Mr. Hiremath said.
He said that the NCPNR and the JSP would write to Congress president Sonia Gandhi urging her to rein in the Chief Minister and the government to withdraw the order.
