Karnataka Lokayukta whirs back into action; staff crunch plays spoilsport

The Karnataka High Court’s move to strengthen the Lokayukta by giving powers back to the police has helped the anti-corruption institution regain its teeth. The Lokayukta police wing has already registered four graft-related complaints since last week. 

Lokayukta Justice BS Patil told The Federal that now anybody could register a case with the Lokayukta under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Karnataka Lokayukta, which had lost its power to register cases through police stations, has been functioning again since August 26. On August 12, the High Court abolished the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), along with its police wing, and merged it into the Lokayukta. 

Also read: Karnataka HC order raises hopes of Lokayukta’s return to its glory days

The ACB has been functioning separately under the government since March 2016, during Siddaramaiah’s tenure as Chief Minister. Based on the High Court order, it issued a circular on the registration of complaints under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A task cut out for Lokayukta

However, while the police stations have got the power back, the process of merging the ACB into the Lokayukta again, and the transfer of the required staff, is a task the anti-graft body has cut out for itself. Though the Lokayukta police has started registering fresh cases as it was doing before 2016, the staff crunch may be a roadblock in the investigation of 2,000 odd cases which were registered by the ACB that need to be addressed on an urgent basis.

As of now, there are just two sub-inspectors out of the sanctioned strength of 12, and 15 inspectors out of the 88 sanctioned posts. Surprisingly, there are just 134 police constables in the Lokayukta whereas the sanctioned strength is 232. These numbers include all the district-level offices of Lokayukta police, sources said.

As per the details given by the Lokayukta office, around 9,318 complaints registered under the Lokayukta Act are to be investigated. Also, there are around 2,200 departmental inquiries. However, with the shortage of staff to look into these cases, it’s a challenge for the Lokayukta to become effective, even though the High Court has abolished the ACB.

Also read: Paper tiger sans teeth | Why Karnataka HC abolished ACB, batted for Lokayukta

The process of transferring the ongoing and pending cases from the ACB is underway; it’s a slow process because of the technicality and legality involved, which the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) has been looking into. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy recently said that the DPAR will transfer the cases from the now defunct ACB to the Lokayukta.

Leaders not too keen

Though Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai has stressed that the government will empower Lokayukta as per the assurance given in the BJP  election manifesto, sources said that some leaders from his party are not interested in giving police powers to Lokayukta. However, the High Court order has put them in a fix and they have to support it as the party doesn’t have any choice, except perhaps attacking the opposition Congress, which was in power when the ACB was formed.

Sources said that there were suggestions within the BJP to challenge the High Court order in the Supreme Court. But the current political scenario has made the government keep quiet and abide by the High Court order while reiterating that it wants to keep the promise of strengthening the Lokayukta made during the 2018 Assembly elections. The Congress, on the other hand, is not in a position to give any statement other than welcoming the HC order.

Justice Patil said that while there is a staff crunch, the cases will be registered and proper inquiries will be done. The process of transferring around 2,000 urgent cases from the ACB is on. “We are also registering fresh cases,” he added.

Also read: Karnataka HC judge seeks documents on ACB probe; ADGP moves court

On September 2, Patil initiated proceedings against a slew of health officials, administrative heads and doctors of three government hospitals in the city after he found several lapses during surprise inspections. He has posted the matter to September 20.