Former High Court Chief Justice Y Bhaskar Rao was sworn in by Governor H R Bhardwaj as the Karnataka Lokayukta, at the Raj Bhavan here on Thursday.
Rao (75) succeeds Justice Shivaraj Patil, who quit in September 2011, a month after being appointed, following charges of flouting rules to get a residential plot from a housing society.
After 16 months of wait, the position of Lokayukta has been filled amidst allegations that Rao obtained a site from BDA suppressing facts, and also allegedly got another site from Karnataka Judicial Employees House Building Cooperative Society in Judicial Layout. Responding to allegations, the Governor clarified that it was not his job to scrutinise the suitability of a person for the post of Lokayukta and his role was restricted to verifying whether the due Constitutional process was followed in the selection process. Refusing to comment on allegations, Rao said: “We would ensure that our duties are discharged as per the (Lokayukta) Act.” Meanwhile, the advocates association of Bangalore has decided to move the SC challenging the appointment of Rao.