MANGALORE: The consultation process on appointing a new Lokayukta will be completed within 10 days, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said on Sunday.
Interacting with mediapersons after inaugurating the new hall in Patrika Bhavan here, Gowda said he would initiate consultations by writing to the Chief Justice of the High Court, Ministers and Opposition leaders from Monday onwards. He firmly said that the Bannurmath issue and his resignation was a closed chapter.
Firmly denying allegations that his government was weakening the Lokayukta institution by adopting delaying tactics, he said these baseless charges have pained him. “Norms were not violated,” he stressed, and added that convention was followed in appointments to the Lokayukta.
“That there was no consultation in the appointment of Upa Lokayukta is far from the truth,” he asserted. “Motamma, Opposition Leader in the Legislative Council, who was in New Delhi, was consulted and Bannurmath complained of lapses in consultations as his candidate had not been selected,” the CM said matter-of-factly.
Refusing to initiate steps on impeaching the Upa Lokayukta, Gowda said he would not interfere but allow law to take its own course. “I would perhaps initiate a dialogue with the Chief Justice on finding a solution to the issue of the Upa Lokayukta’s appointment, he said.