Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao on Tuesday said the state government was protecting corrupt officials by not giving permission to prosecute them.
Speaking to reporters after visiting K C General Hospital in Bangalore where he took doctors to task, Justice Rao said: “The government is protecting them (corrupt officials) using its state powers. Around 150 cases are pending for sanction for prosecution. Some of the them are pending for over a year. Any undue delay in prosecution amounts to maladministration.”
This is the first time Justice Rao has addressed the media since his appointment in February this year.
Express had reported in May that no action was taken by the government against 135 high- ranking officials accused of accepting bribes or owning disproportionate assets, despite the Lokayukta recommending action against them.
When asked how is he trying to wade through the situation, he said, “We held a meeting with the Chief Secretary on May 27 and have apprised him of the situation. The government has promised to take action.”
Referring to a Supreme Court decision, Justice Rao said the government should give sanction to prosecute accused officials within a period of three months under the Prevention of the Corruption Act.
“If there is need for any legal consultation, it can take an additional one month. Anything beyond that is considered a delay,’’ he pointed out.
Lokayukta Y Bhaskara Rao said officials with a bad track record have been transferred and “the institution is now clean’’. The Lokayukta is setting itself a target of disposing all cases pending since 1993 by December this year. “I am dividing the cases among scrutiny officers. By December, all long-pending cases registered before 2011 will be closed. From 2014, we will try to dispose of cases within a year from the date of receipt,’’ he outlined.
According to his office, since Justice Rao’s appointment in February, around 1,100 of the 14,558 case that were pending with the Lokayukta have been disposed of.
