The Administrative Reforms Commission recommended setting up of Lokpal at the federal level and Lokayukta in the states in 1966. This was basically meant for redressal of citizen’s grievances and Maharashtra established its Lokayukta in 1971.
In 1984, Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde, then Chief Minister of Karnataka brought Lokayutha and Upalokayuktha into force through The Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984, by abolishing, Mysore State Vigilance Commission (formed in 1965 to investigate corruption cases). All the pending cases before the commission were transferred to the newly formed Karnataka Lokayuktha, the newly formed Corruption Watchdog; with the Lokayuktha having the power to investigate Chief Minister, all other Ministers and Members of the State Legislature and all state government employees. The Lokayuktha came in to existence only after two years of passing the Lokayuktha Act 1984.
The Lokayukta, a retired supreme court Judge or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court, was appointed by the Governor of Karnataka on advice of Chief Minister of Karnataka in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, the Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council, the Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the Leaders of the Opposition in both the Karnataka Legislative Council and Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
However the institution of Lokayuktha, , was brought in to lime light by Justice N Venkatachala during his tenure from 2001 to 2006, while it was a low profile sleepy organization from 1986 to 2001 during the tenures of Justices AD Kaushal, Rabindranath Pyne and Abdul hakim. It is to the credit of Justice N Venkatachala and his proactive approach, that the common man in Karnataka started to believe that the corrupt at high places will be brought to book by this institution as he conducted series of raids and spot inspections of public works. His face became synonymous with anti graft activities in the state. The institution was hailed and honored. raising the aspiration levels of the common citizen to combat the ever growing demon of corruption in Govt agencies.
It is ironical that only 11 persons in various wings of Lokayuktha have declared their assets & Liabilities on the official web site of Lokayuktha as on date, that too not in the format prescribed by the lokayuktha to other govt officials including people representatives, which reflects the sincerity of commitment and approach to say the least.
Justice Santosh Hegde ( 2006 to 2011) gave the institution a further fillip by engaging with the common public to address their day to day grievances with the public authorities be it health, education or revenue etc..The anti corruption drives took a robust turn during this period and Lokayuktha was a much feared organization by the Govt servants. At the fag end of his tenure, in 2011, Santosh Hegde submitted a report on illegal mining in Karnataka, an exhaustive report authored by Mr UV Singh, a IFS officer, which reported loss of Rs 160.85 billion to the stat exposing the biggest mining scam in India which led to the resignation of B. S. Yeddyurappa, then Chief Minister of Karnataka.
While the admirers hailed the Lokayuktha for their public actions critics attributed its rise to publicity stunt. However all that glory of the Lokayuktha institution started falling apart as controversies after controversies came up since 2011 till date.
Before dwelling into the controversies it is important to rationalize the statistics to get to the realities of success of Lokayuktha in Karnataka. The very purpose of instituting a Lokayuktha as an Ombudsman was to bring down the level of corruption in Govt agencies. The moot point is has that been achieved? If so at what cost to public exchequer? Has the presence of a Lokayuktha contributed for delivery of good governance? How did the “boon” for citizens to fight corruption turned in to a “bane” within 3 decades? The speed of its fall is greater than the speed with which its reputation grew. That is alarming to say the least. The organization meant to fight corrupt practices and corrupt govt officers became an epitome of corrupt practices by encouraging the corruption within Lokayuktha at its highest levels. Thus destroying whatever little hope, faith, belief a common citizen had in this organization started with all its noble intentions.
In reality it must be accepted by one and all the conviction rate in corruption cases is abysmal, may be due to myriad of reasons. But in effect neither the level of corruption has decreased nor has the fear of an ombudsman to check corrupt practices increased in the govt circles. It may not be totally wrong to surmise that the Institution of Lokayuktha has only provided a safe platform to rehabilitate retired Govt servants from both the Judiciary and bureaucracy, with no accountability. Did you know that a Lokayuktha can avail 70 days of paid leave in a year and he himself is the sanctioning authority? That speaks for itself why Lokayuktha is a sought after post after retirement.
The figures from 1 Jan 2004 to 31 Dec 2013, a period of ten years, tell you the stark reality. A total of 407 raids were conducted, that is to say 3.4 raids per month, making it not even one per week. Remember two high profile Lokayuthas were in office during this period narrate the health and productivity of Lokayuktha, which was clouded in, as many call it, publicity drives by the respective lokayukthas of that time. It is shocking that convictions were only in 17 such raids amounting to a dismal 0.42% while an astronomical sum of Rs34 crores and more per annum, has been spent by the exchequer to sustain an organization which has become a pensioners paradise at best.
Frequent transfers of investigating officers, poor investigation, witnesses turning hostile and above all, the delay in government sanction for prosecution of senior officials are said to be the major causes for acquittals. According to statistics provided by Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, the rate of conviction was 38.20 per cent in 2012, 30.80 per cent in 2013 and 31.60 per cent in 2014. In the first two months of 2015, the rate of conviction stood at 21.10 per cent.
There is more to come. The reader will pleasantly be surprised to note that large number of cases were pending from 2005 to 2011, 307,220,221,296,334,606,858 being the actual numbers year wise. A total of mind boggling 2824 cases pending that too when the two most proactive Lokayukthas were in office!! So critics may not be faulted after all to attribute to publicity stunts and creating a self brand by the very people who occupied the august office of lokayuktha rather than bringing down corruption in the state. It is another matter that Karnataka has grown exponentially in corruption in govt in the past decade or so despite an expensive Lokayuktha in place. It goes without saying that CORRUTION has no boundaries as it has seeped in to the core systems at Lokayuktha itself. However one of the senior police officer’s had smelt this RAT during Justice Hegde’s tenure as well, but there seems to be no official record action taken on SP Mr Madhukar’s confidential report. It will be prudent to adjudge that since the bud of internal corruption was not nipped in time it has grown in size and power, culminating in the arrest of Jt CP Riyaz, Mr Ashwin son of present Lokayuktha and others after a huge public outcry.
The first victim of a controversy was Justice Shivraj Patil who resigned after a brief two months of tenure from July 2011 to September 2011 over some land scam. No Lokayuktha was appointed by the govt of the day led by BJP till Feb 2013 as many of the candidates selected were involved in some or the other controversies. Even Justice Bhaskar Rao’s appointment was not without a controversy either, which is well documented in public domains.
One of the most unavoidable and damaging the core values of Lokayuktha, is the present controversial “corruption within Lokayuktha” case which erupted in the last week of June 2015 after whispers and murmurs within the precincts of Lokayuktha started in early may 2015.
After a lot of undesirable deliberations the Govt ordered a Special Investigation Team to probe the allegations of corruption in the Lokayukta office.
The political leadership, across party lines, demanded that Lokayukta Y. Bhaskar Rao quit office for the alleged bribery scandal. The Govt felt it a necessity to amend the Lokayuktha act 1984 to bring errant Lokayuktha’s to book. Once the act was amended the opposition parties submitted memorandums for removal of Justice Bhaskar rao as Lokayuktha to the speaker and the chairman in both houses of legislature and the issue is pending at the Legislature for further action to remove the present Lokayuktha.
Till he is removed and an able selfless committed Lokayuktha is appointed, we will have to live with endemic corruption in our society. There is a huge racket in almost every public department and every public welfare scheme. Institutions such as the Lokayukta can only touch the fringes of the problem and at best have a marginal impact. That remains my biggest disappointment and raises the following questions
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Do we really need a white elephant like Lokayuktha at all?
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Does the cost paid by the citizen worthy of the cause to fight corruption through the ineffective Lokayuktha?
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What is the alternative to fight corruption which growing at an alarming pace in Karnataka if there is one?
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Time for all of us to get up in unison to shirk self centered habits and to oust self centered leaders and bureaucrats
Jai Hind..I love my India