02 February,2010 09:33 AM IST | | B V Shiva Shankar
Yeddyurappa favours fellow Lingayat Bannurmat; Lokayukta among those unhappy
The caste factor seems to be in play in the process of appointing the up-lokayukta. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has chosen a fellow Lingayat to replace Patri Basavana Goud, who retired on December 28.
In the first place, the government took a long time to zero in on a candidate to replace Goud.
Now, Justice S R Bannurmat, who retired as chief justice of the Kerala High Court on January 23, is tipped to be new up-lokayukta, a position that supplements that of the lokayukata in acting as a watchdog against corruption.
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Many eyebrows have been raised since Bannurmat's name cropped up, as he will not be completing even a fortnight as a retired man before finding new employment.
"I don't know what was the urgency. When there were many eligible candidates, Bannurmat could have waited," said a senior lawyer in the high court on condition of anonymity.
"Moreover, choosing a person for such a significant post on caste lines is highly deplorable."
Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde is also not happy with the way things are turning out.
"We need a person of the highest order of integrity and merit," said he. "I think it must be the only criterion, and nothing else should matter."
He wondered why Bannurmat was chosen, as he was in fact eligible for the post of lokayukta, being a retired chief justice of a high court.
"It will be a sort of demotion for Bannurmat, as a high court judge is eligible for up-lokayukta," said Hegde. "Maybe the plan is to make him lokayukta after a year-and-half, when my term ends.
But, they will have to change the rules by then, as promoting an up-lokayukta to lokayukta is not provided for."
Hegde was also concerned over coordination between him and the new up-lokyukta. His predecessor N Venakatachala was not on talking terms with Patri Basavana Goud, when the later was up-lokayukta.
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Their acrimonious relations had hit the headlines, with the verbal exchanges between them becoming regular fodder for the media.
"The in-fighting allowed the corrupt to take advantage of the situation and I don't want the same thing to repeated," said Hegde. "The post should not be kept vacant for long and I hope the appointment will be made at the earliest."
The up-lokayukata takes action against corrupt officers at the levels lower than IAS and KAS rank with suo-motu powers, which a lokayukta lacks.
The lokayukta looks at cases involving higher rank officials, apart from legislators, but he can only act upon a complaint.
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As a result of the up-lokayukta's post having remained vacant for so long, cases are piling up, with the figure having crossed 18,000 already.
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"We are receiving at least 100 cases a day and only the up-lokayukta can address them," said Hegde.
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"I have written to the chief secretary asking for speeding up the process, but I am left with no option but to wait."
Bannurmat was not available for comment.
