The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Lokayukta to act against legislators

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Sunday, Mar 25, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Lokayukta to act against legislators

Staff Reporter

Eight of them have not declared their assets and liabilities

N. Santosh Hegde

BANGALORE: Proceedings against the eight elected representatives, who had not declared their assets and liabilities under the Lokayukta Act, would begin next week, Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde said here on Saturday.

Addressing students of the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM) at a seminar on "The Lokayukta and the Media", he said it was unfortunate that the eight legislators had not submitted the statement even after the June 2006 deadline lapsed.

"Proceedings against these persons will be taken up under the Indian Penal Code, where non-declaration of assets and liabilities by a public servant is a punishable offence," he said.

Reiterating that he was trying to make the office of Lokayukta more proactive, Mr Hegde said he had proposed amendments to the Lokayukta Act by which the Lokayukta would get suo motu powers. "It's a psychological war between the State Government and Lokayukta. They are nervous that the Lokayukta will conduct a raid at any time," he said.

Anti-corruption was not the only facet of the Lokayukta's responsibilities. The office of Lokayukta could make a huge impact on redress of grievances and improper administration, he said.

Courts were overburdened with 3.36 crore pending cases. Since people were now more aware of their rights, they had become more litigious. There were 1,80,000 cases that came before the Supreme Court alone, in the past one year, while between 1950 and 1960, there were only 8,000 cases, he said.

An alternative dispute resolution system could be adopted, he said.

Pointing out that judgments were made by parameters laid down by law and not by perceptions or personalities, the Lokayukta came down on SMS polls by the media regarding cases that were pending or under trial.

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