Is the Lokayukta guilty of politicising his office? -Governance Now

Is the Lokayukta guilty of politicising his office?

Ashish Sharma | July 5, 2010

When Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde paid heed to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani's appeal and withdrew his resignation, the opposition parties slammed him for having compromised his position. Having blamed the incumbent BJP government for not allowing him to function, the Lokayukta had no business to call Advani a father figure and withdraw his resignation, the opposition said. They may have well added that while Advani is 83, Justice Hegde is past 70. But that wasn't why the opposition, especially the Congress party, appeared so annoyed.

Justice Hegde's resignation had embarrassed the BS Yeddyurappa government like nothing else could. Here was the country's only functioning Lokayukta calling it quits because the state government wouldn't let him discharge his duty of punishing the corrupt. By implication, here was a Lokayukta preferring to quit because the state government was shielding the corrupt. Ergo, the Lokayukta had established that the state government was corrupt. What's more, he had stayed resolute in his decision even when the governor and the Union home minister pleaded with him to reconsider his decision. So, why the dramatic volte-face when Advani made a similar appeal?

The reason may simply be that while the governor and the Union home minister couldn't have promised a change in attitude on behalf of the state government, Advani could make a credible pitch for a government being run by his party. When the seniormost BJP leader said the state government would clamp down on illegal mining and consider the suggestions for checking corruption, as demanded by Justice Hegde, the statement did carry more weight than P Chidambaram's general appeal. In fact, had the Lokayukta reconsidered his resignation on the appeal of the opposition parties that would have arguably amounted to a clearer politicisation of his office. In this case, Justice Hegde simply ensured that the state government would let him function in a more effective manner.

Is there any merit in the claim of the opposition parties, then, that the Lokayukta compromised his office by invoking Advani's name while announcing withdrawal of his resignation?

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