Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Feb 5: Karnataka Lokayukta, Justice P Vishwanath Shetty, said here on Saturday February 4 that he will not hear cases pertaining to Gali Janardhan Reddy, D K Shivakumar etc if these cases come up before him. He clarified that he wants to stay away from controversy arising out of allegations that he had functioned as counsel for them in the court. "I have never met Janardhan Reddy so far. Advocates for clients get in touch with us and appoint us as legal counsels for their clients. I had also argued in the Supreme Court on behalf of Telangana chief minister, Chandrashekhar Rao. I have even fought criminal cases by charging minimum fee when the people involved were found to be poor," he said.
Justice Shetty however clarified that Shivakumar's case falls under Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB). He said he will approach the state government with a request to ammend Lokayukta Act to provide for hearing of certain Lokayukta cases by another judge based on merits like the above situation.
"I will do everything within my command to bring down corrupt practices in the functioning of government departments, and ensure that schemes meant to benefit eligible people reach them in time. Towards achieving this objective, I will bring together officers and make all out efforts," he stated.
In response to a question, Justice Shetty clarified that he had never hankered for the post of the Lokayukta, and that he had retired ten years back as judge of the high court. He said that at the time of his retirement, he had been asked to be the chairman for either Intellectual Property Rights Appellate Authority or Computerization Authority, but he had turned down these offers as he wanted to work as advocate. "I had been a successful advocate paying income tax in lacs of rupees. I demitted that position to accept this post because of ideals I cherish," he said.
The Lokayukta, who was here on Saturday to pay obeisance at a temple in his native place, Uppoor, said that he will not handle cases pertaining to people on behalf of whom he had handled cases as an advocate, and also those in which his relatives are involved. He felt that there are certain sections of people who want the post of Lokayukta to remain vacant.
On a question about ACB interfering with the functioning of Lokayukta, he said just like police department which is under government's control, ACB also has been functioning. He felt that in a democratic system, it is natural that excessive use of power by any of the authorities poses danger. He pointed out that the ACB cannot overlook instructions for investigating certain persons if the department is specifically directed by Lokayukta to do so. He felt that the effectiveness of the functioning of any authority rests on how it is managed. He added that even the media can contact him if they find problems pertaining to government services over phone No. 080-22257013.