Will the next Lokayukta be Yeddy’s man?

With Lokayukta Santosh Hegde leaving office on August 2, and no visible efforts on to find his successor, sources say the CM intends to keep the position vacant for a while to ensure a 'favourable' person is in place

Will the next Lokayukta be Yeddy's man?

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With barely a month to go before Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde makes an exit, there is still no sign of his replacement. The buzz is that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is allegedly planning to keep the position vacant for a while so that 'his man' can take charge.

Watchdog: The position of Lokayukta is significant in the current
political situation with the CM facing a slew of corruption charges.

"Nothing has been done in this regard. I think it will be some time before we start the appointment procedure. If Lokayukta goes, the Upa-Lokayukta will be implemented and function of the institution will not be hampered," said a secretary to the CM.

u00a0The position of Lokayukta is significant in the current political situation with the CM facing a slew of corruption charges, and an eventful tenure of Hegde coming to end on August 2. While Hegde made headlines for all possible reasons, getting applause for cracking the whip on the corrupt at the helm and attracting criticism for soft-pedaling on the BJP government, the CM seems to have chosen to tread cautiously to ensure a 'favourable' person is in place.

On the mind?
His choice is a man from his community -- Lingayat -- and hence names like S R Bannurmath and Shivaraj Patil have cropped up. But, the CM is quite aware that he would come under scathing attack for having both Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta from the same community.

The current Upa-Lokayukta, S B Majjigi, is a fellow Lingayat and is a hand picked choice of the CM.
His apparent design is to postpone the appointment to the possible limit and strengthen the hands of Upa-Lokayukta by giving him a couple of deputies (there is a provision to have multiple positions of Upa-Lokayukta) to function smoothly as the acting Lokayukta.

Meanwhile, a non-Lingayat Justice R V Ravindran, a Supreme Court judge, has also come up. "Floating Ravindran's name is a deliberate attempt on the part of the CM to divert media and public attention," sources said.

"Ravindran will be relieved as an SC judge only in October, as his retirement is due for the month. It is unlikely that the CM will be appointing Lokayukta in August. The names come and go and they are only meant for public consumption," said a source in the CM's office.

Happened before
Yeddyurappa had used the same trick, when he appointed Majjigi as the Upa-Lokayukta last year. The post was vacant for more than six months after an incumbent Patri Basavana Goud demitted office.

His original plan was to bring in Bannurmath as the Upa-Lokayukta and then elevating him to Lokayukta. But, being a retired chief justice of the Kerala HC, he was over qualified for the job and the rules did not permit elevating Upa-Lokayukta unless they are amended.

Considering the turbulence in political scenes then, he didn't take any risk and settled for Majjigi, who is considered to be equally endearing to the CM. However, Yeddyurappa's bid to take indirect control on the institution of Lokayukta does not stop there. The registrar post in the Lokayukta is vacant for a couple of months now, and the CM is contemplating on changing the rules to bring in an IAS officer for the position, which is otherwise reserved for a judiciary post and a district magistrate, or a person of equal rank.

"Even I have heard that the government is trying to bring in many changes in the system of Lokayukta. Among them, some are fine and some are objectionable. But, I don't want to comment at this stage and am happy I will not be on the scene to witness all this," said Hegde.

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