The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : I resisted pressure from political parties, says Venkatachala

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 02, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

I resisted pressure from political parties, says Venkatachala

Staff Reporter

Outgoing Lokayukta vows to serve people till his health permits

FINAL ACT: Lokayukta N. Venkatachala looking at a plan for a playground at Vyalikaval in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Lokayukta N. Venkatachala said on Saturday that he felt he had completed his five-year term without giving in to pressures from political parties.

Addressing presspersons on the last day of his tenure, he said every moment he spent in the discharge of his duties as the Lokayutka had satisfied his conscience. He said there was no single dull moment. "I will continue to serve people till the day my health permits. The modes of my fight for the people's cause will depend on the conditions," he said.

Mr. Venkatachala said that at no point had he expressed to the Government his willingness to accept a second term. He had only written to the Government that he was willing to accept a second term if the Lokayukta was strengthened by amendments to the Karnataka Lokayukta Act.

The Government should give suo motu power to the Lokayukta to enable the authority to initiate investigations without complaints.

"The absence of this power, which I have been demanding since I took charge, has been an handicap in investigation of cases related to high-profile officials. More powers will help in improving the administrative machinery, which is basically controlled by senior bureaucrats," he said.

He said the appointment of the Upalokayukta had made him happy, and he had thought that it would strengthen his crusade against corrupt government servants. "But I felt sad when I had to send back complaints brought before me against officials on whom the Upalokayutka was empowered to take action," he said. He said many cases of misappropriation booked by the Lokayukta police were pending trial in the jurisdictional sessions courts. The Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court had instructed the courts to give priority to these cases, he said.

Mr. Venkatachala inspected projects in five places where he had initiated clearance of encroachments.

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