As the lokayukta row hit a moral low, the Karnataka Government made it clear that the probe into alleged corruption charges against lokayukta office cannot be handed over to CBI unless lokayukta makes a request for it. Karnataka Home Minister KJ George told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing Monsoon Assembly Session at Belagavi on Wednesday that the Government on its own cannot hand over the probe to CBI.
He said, “We don’t have any power to initiate investigation against lokayukta on our own. lokayukta has sent a request to form an SIT and inquire about it. On the basis of that request, the Chief Minister has constituted an SIT under an ADGP,” he said.
“Government can assist lokayukta when required under the lokayukta Act,” he added. When questioned about the lokayukta’s request to conduct investigation by an independent agency, George said, “They have asked us to conduct an inquiry by an official above the rank of ADGP, accordingly we have appointed ADGP.”
On the demand for a CBI probe into the issue, George said, “We don’t have that power; we will have to go by lokayukta’s request; if they ask for a CBI probe we will give it.”
As the events at anti-graft agency turned ugly, the probe has now been handed over to a Special Investigation team on the request of lokayukta and the probe into alleged corruption charges will commence soon.
lokayukta Bhaskar Rao is in the eye of a storm over charges of corruption in his office with his son’s name also dragged into it. Facing the heat, Rao has ruled out his resignation.
lokayukta was rocked by the alleged scandal recently after its Superintendent of Police Sonia Narang blew the lid off with a letter to its Registrar, about the complaint she received from a person, who alleged that someone from the lokayukta office demanded `1 crore in bribe to avoid a raid.
Rao, a former High Court Chief Justice, has rejected allegations that his son was involved in the scandal and said he would resign if the charge was proved correct.
Heated debate is going on at the ongoing Assembly session as both the Opposition parties, BJP and JD(S) are demanding the probe be entrusted to CBI.
Meanwhile, a Division Bench Comprising Justice N Kumar and Justice B Sreenivase Gowda of the Karnataka High Court directed both lokayukta and Upalokayukta not to direct any in-house investigation and await the report of the Special Investigating Team (SIT) appointed by the State Government on the alleged corruption within the lokayukta institution.
The interim order was passed on a petition filed by Ashwin Rao, son of lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao.
Under the scheme of the Karnataka lokayukta Act, the Bench said, there is no provision which empowers both the lokayukta and the Upalokayukta to investigate the same issue in question.
It is learnt that lokayukta SP Sonia Narang registered an FIR against Ashwin Rao, son of lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, on Wednesday.
Narang is probing the corruption charges against certain insiders at lokayukta. Though Rao had asked Narang to stop the probe, Upalokayukta Justice Subhash Adi had on Tuesday directed Narang to proceed with the probe as per his order issued on June 23.