BENGALURU: Karnataka Lokayukta Justice BS Patil on Friday said that his institution is not receiving encouraging response from the state government to the recommendations for penal action against tainted officials. Hence, the government should change its approach to such recommendations. He was speaking after inaugurating the vigilance awareness conference on ‘Strengthening Efficiency, Ensuring Integrity and Transparency in Governance’ at Vidhana Soudha.
Justice Patil said the Lokayukta had recommended penal action against officials after the charges against them were proved in 1,074 cases. But the government is yet to take action. Justice Patil said that a recommendation was made against an official two years before his retirement. But no action was taken against him even after his retirement. In this case, not even his pension was withheld. This kind of inaction or delay will have a negative impact on the society.
In some corruption cases, the government gave clean chit to those found guilty by rejecting the Lokayukta recommendations. The heads of departments should act swiftly on such recommendations, he said. Stating that the government should allow the Lokayukta to access details of its employees online so that it can function more effectively, Justice Patil said the people are losing faith in the system and are frustrated over revocation of suspension of officials found guilty in bribery cases.
Upa Lokayukta Justice KN Phaneendra spoke about the provisions of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act. Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma, Lokayukta Registrar Usharani and heads of various government departments were present.