Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Nitte Santhosh Hegde threatened to resign from the Lok Pal Bill drafting committee. He explains to Mahesh Kulkarni why
What made you consider quitting the joint committee constituted to draft the Lok Pal Bill? Was it about people’s personal integrity, or individual sense of hurt or about making a political intervention?
All three. I was provoked by Digvijaya Singh of the Congress. Actually it started with Law Minister Veerappa Moily who implied that I was going along with corruption in Karnataka. We are from the same native place, so when he called me after making the statement, and said he hadn’t really meant to sound the way he had sounded, I told him that he must issue a public retraction and send a copy to me. To his credit, he did so. Then came Digvijaya Singh’s statements. There are several versions of the comment, but the tenor of all of them were the same: that I was in some way holding back from indicting corruption in Karnataka.
I was hurt by his comments that I am protecting Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. All through my judicial career, no one could raise a whisper of an allegation of wrongdoing against me, and now somebody says I am protecting the corrupt? The whole world knows what action I have taken in Karnataka and how the Supreme Court ordered a probe into illegal mining. I wear my integrity as my skin. On the day I took over as Lokayukta, I made my assets public. No one can question my integrity. So I thought that if, with my resignation, the vilification campaign against the committee members would stop I would be happy to resign and walk out.
Is the purpose of all these smear campaigns to derail the process of drafting the Lok Pal Bill?
A lot of people have asked me this question. It is true that some people have launched a vilification campaign to derail the process of drafting the Lok Pal Bill. But, my phone has been ringing continuously since the morning and emails from various people are pouring in, asking me not to yield to such unwarranted pressure. Anna Hazare called from his village, asking me not to resign. But, I am hurt by such comments. Ever since the committee was set up, many people have been trying to defame one or the other member. First, they tried this against Hazare, then the Bhushans and now me.
What is on your agenda apart from the Lok Pal bill
I have a lot of work to complete before I retire as the Lokayukta of Karnataka. I have to complete the second report on illegal mining in Karnataka and submit it. I will be submitting the report by the end of May. The report is delayed because I had to incorporate a lot of documents given by CBI, Income-Tax department and the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee.
Do you think there is need for a Lok Pal at the Centre?
Definitely. There is need for a Lok Pal at the Centre because there is corruption in the central government also. The institution of the Lok Pal at the Centre has been long overdue. Unlike in Karnataka and a few states where the Lokayukta has been constituted and functioning, there is no such legal entity at the central level for people to fight against corruption. There is an urgent need because corruption is also prevalent at the Centre, as evident from the various scams that surfaced recently.
What is the objective of the Lok Pal and how will it be different from the Lokayukta at the state level?
The objective of both Lokayukta and Lok Pal is the same, to prevent corruption in high offices. Both will also oversee administration so that there is no maladministration. The Lok Pal is exclusively for the supervision of work in the central government and the Lokayukta in the state government. The Administrative Reforms Commission had also suggested the same structure.
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The Lok Pal will deal with acts of omission and commission at the Centre such as alleged corruption by Union ministers, including the prime minister and central government employees. There is much more corruption at the local level in states, which has to be tackled by the Lokayukta (state-level ombudsman). The magnitude of graft is alarming in states and accounts for almost 90 per cent of corruption in the country encountered by the common man.
What do you think would be the composition of the Lok Pal?
It is not for me to express it alone at this juncture. I can’t tell you now what should be the structure of the organisation. It is up to the committee to think about it.
How effective would the Lok Pal be in fighting graft?
Though it would be in the interest of speedy justice to accept the Lok Pal judgment as final, the accused or a convicted person cannot be legally stopped from approaching the Supreme Court as he or she would be entitled to under the laws of the land, especially where fundamental rights were involved. We cannot stop the affected person from taking legal recourse against the Lok Pal ruling even if he or she is held guilty of the offence though that would be ideal. But, we are governed by the constitution, which empowers every citizen to defend himself from being framed, accused or convicted.
What is the mandate for the joint committee?
The endeavour of the committee is to prepare a strong body to tackle corruption and maladministration in the functioning of the Central government with suitable power. The main idea is to empower the authority. We want to create a Lok Pal at the Centre in the same way as the Lokayukta at the states, like in Karnataka. We should have a uniform Lokayukta Bill for all state governments and a Central Act for the Central government. We also need to create a Lokayukta for all state governments. Karnataka has the best Act and we can replicate it in other states.
How much time do you need to draft the Bill and when do you think it will come into effect?
The drafting of the bill should not take more than a month if we are sincere about it. It all requires about 10 sessions. We already have the previous draft before us. There are about 30 to 40 sections that need to be discussed and fine-tuned. The Bill should be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament. I am very optimistic that the Bill will be passed and as Annaji said, this is only the first step and there are many more steps to go. Our endeavour is to reach the goal.