Bengaluru: It is a classic case of 'fence eating the crops'. Corruption watchdog Lokayukta is facing the worst ever crisis in Karnataka, with the chief of the institution, Justice Y Bhaskara Rao, himself facing corruption charges. His son Ashwin Rao, another relative Krishna Rao and one more person are accused of blackmailing and extorting money from government officials suspected to be corrupt and nearing their retirement. According to some reports, so far they have collected Rs 180 crore in 109 cases. A senior employee of Lokayukta, Syed Riaz, is also accused of helping them.
The scam came out in the public domain after an engineer complained to Lokayukta SP Sonia Narang that some people demanded money from him at the Lokayukta head office. An efficient and honest IPS officer, Sonia Narang, was stunned by this complaint and started an investigation into the complaint. It led her directly to the office and residence of Lokayukta Bhaskara Rao.
According to some people with inside knowledge of the Lokayukta office, Ashwin Rao had two people working for him. They would collect details of senior 'corrupt' government officials nearing the retirement age. They would call him or her to Lokayukta office, threaten them with raids, demand bribe up to Rs 2 crore and finalise the deal at Lokayukta's official residence in the elite Sadashivanagar area of Bengaluru.
After this shocking incident jolted the state, at least 23 people have complained to the Lokayukta that they were approached by his close people for money. These developments forced Bhaskara Rao to address the media giving clean chit to his son Ashwin Rao. He said, "My son Ashwin Rao has nothing to do with this".
In a clever move, Lokayukta handed over the investigation to City Crime Branch (CCB) whose chief's father-in-law is being investigated by the same Lokayukta in a corruption case. After it led to a furore, the CCB chief asked the Lokayukta to transfer the case to someone else.
Later, Bhaskara Rao wrote a letter to Karnataka Government, asking it to order an impartial probe by an independent agency. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed helplessness saying that state government could not order a CBI probe into the alleged scam as the rules don't permit.
Some advocates and civil society leaders have already demanded that Bhaskara Rao should resign immediately, but he has refused to do so. Some are demanding that he should be impeached.
In the meantime, Bhaskara Rao has allegedly given verbal instructions to Sonia Narang not to investigate the allegations against his son, raising serious doubts over his intentions. The retired Lokayukta of Karnataka, Justice N Santosh Hegde, has expressed shock over the incident. He said, "If I were in Bhaskara Rao's place, I would have left my house immediately to save my face".
Bhaskara Rao, a native of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, is not new to controversies. When he was the chief justice of Karnataka High Court, he had faced some charges. When he was appointed by the then BJP government as Lokayukta, some advocates had questioned it. Some claim that a powerful BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh is behind his appointment as the Lokayukta of Karnataka.
In the last two days, the pressure is mounting on Bhaskara Rao to quit on his own to save his face and allow free and fair investigation, but he is refusing to step down.
Some people are now demanding that the Lokayukta institution should be scrapped as it has no credibility and moral rights to exist as corruption watchdog.
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