Despite the rejection of the first recommendation to appoint Justice K.L. Manjunath to the post of Karnataka Upalokayukta, the State government had “brazenly” recommended his name again for the post, founder-president of Samaj Parivartan Samudaya (SPS) S.R. Hiremath has said.
Addressing presspersons here on Monday, Mr. Hiremath sought to know where the pre-poll assurance about ‘giving clean, transparent governance’ by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had gone.
Mr. Hiremath said, “Justice K.L. Manjunath’s elevation to Chief Justice of High Court of Punjab and Haryana or elevation to the Supreme Court was turned down by the collegium headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha. And despite the first rejection, the State government wants to appoint him for the Upalokayukta post again.”
He said that National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) and other organisations had previously made a detailed representation with 23 irrefutable documents to the Chief Justice of India seeking inquiry against Justice K.L. Manjunath seeking action against him. “And now in the wake of these developments, we will again appeal to the Governor of Karnataka to reject the recommendation of the State government for the Upalokayukta post for the second time,” he said.
At a time when the institution of Lokayukta was in a shambles due to the corruption in the anti-corruption body, recommending the name of a person with questionable integrity to the Upalokayukta post was really unfortunate, he said.
The NCPNR and other organisations, he said, welcomed the order of the Revenue Court dated August 6, 2015 and the consequent Government Order dated August 11, 2015 regarding recovery of the 3-acre 23-gunta land in Pattandur Agrahara village of Bengaluru East Taluk. Mr. Hiremath said private companies including Joy Ice Cream, Prestige Developers and Wildflower Estates owned by Minister K.J. George and his family members, had a role in the alleged land grab case and the SPS had fought for its recovery.
