CBI probe depends on Lokayukta’s request: Karnataka CM.

by news
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July 13, 2015

Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was in a combative mood on Sunday over the issue of a CBI enquiry into the Lokayuktha corruption scam”Let the Opposition show us under which provision of the Lokayukta Act can the State Govt order a CBI inquiry, I will immediately order one”, he said, reacting to the Opposition’s demand for CBI probe in the matter.
Karnataka_CMSpeaking to reporters in Mysuru, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the State Government had very limited role to play in the matter and had ordered a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) as the Lokayukta had sought such a probe. “If the Lokayukta writes to us asking for a CBI probe, we will give it to CBI. The State Government has no suo moto powers to order a CBI probe in the matter,” he added.

The office of the Lokayukta is an independent autonomous body and the question of Lokayukta’s resignation from office was entirely left to his own discretion. “What right does the Government have to ask him to resign? Even if we ask him to resign, what can we do if he does not resign,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

Extortion calls from Lokayuktha offices?
The Corruption scam in the Lokayukthas office, refer to extortion attempts  from govenrment servants based on calls made by Lokayuktha staff threatening cases under the prevention of corruption Act.

The controversy revolves around the allegation that the calls made by a fictitious Krishna Rao were made by Y Ashwin the son of Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao and allegedly from his father’s office premises in MS Buildings, Ambedkar Veedhi. According to reports this has emerged from initial investigation by the watchdog’s police wing.

Lokayukta police have been investigating a complaint by MN Krishnamurthy, executive engineer at the Bengaluru Urban ZP, that Ashwin alias Krishna Rao tried to extort money from him. They obtained mobile call data records of Ashwin and found that they were indeed made from the Lokayukta office. The finding has confirmed reports that Ashwin had converted the premises into a headquarters for his activities.