A 51-year-old taluk surveyor, Hanumanthappa, was arrested by Lokayukta police in Ballari, Karnataka, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 18,000 to provide a layout road sketch. He was caught in a trap and booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A special PMLA court in Bengaluru has convicted a retired Karnataka Excise Department guard, M Ramchandra, and his daughter, R Yurekha, on money laundering charges. Ramchandra received five years rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 5 lakh fine, while Yurekha received three years rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 3 lakh fine. Five immovable properties were also confiscated. The case stemmed from a 2009 ED investigation based on a Lokayukta Police complaint regarding disproportionate assets.
Justice Shivraj Patil, who took over as the Lokayukta of Karnataka two months ago, may tender his resignation on Monday. Insiders said that he is on his way to Raj Bhavan.
Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde on Friday expressed unhappiness over Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari's accusation that he was 'acting like an opposition leader', saying he failed to understand why he said so.
Barely one-and-half months after assuming office, Karnataka Lokayukta Shivaraj Patil has landed in a row for securing allotment of two residential plots from two housing cooperative societies violating rules.
P Vishwanatha Shetty is stated to be out of danger.
Karnataka Lokayukta Police conducted searches at multiple locations linked to a government official, Dalesh A L, accused of possessing disproportionate assets, unearthing properties worth approximately Rs 3.08 crore.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on Saturday issued a notice to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on a complaint against him about denotification of lands. Earlier on Saturday, the Lokayukta expressed regret over his decision to withdraw his resignation over the government's inaction about the massive corruption in the state. While addressing the media at Bengaluru on Saturday, Justice Hegde said that he cannot now undo what has been done and he cannot resign again.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh N Hegde, who is probing illegal mining in the state, on Thursday claimed that his phone has been tapped. Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge, told PTI that after reports of alleged bugging in the office of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee surfaced, he had asked a professional to carry out a check in his office. "(The professional) told me that my telephone has been tapped. Every conversation was being recorded," he said.
Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, the ombudsman battling corruption in Karnataka is impressed with the manner in which Anna Hazare has taken on the government this time. Here are a few excerpts from a freewheeling chat with Vicky Nanjappa:
Two Bengaluru Municipal Corporation officials were arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs three lakh in connection with pending 'Khata' work.
Governor H R Bhardwaj has cleared the name of Patil, who had earlier served as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court as well as Acting Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Raj Bhavan sources said.
A Deputy Commissioner of the Commercial Tax Department in Karnataka was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from a businessman related to an Input Tax Credit case.
Karnataka Lokayukta police have registered a disproportionate assets case against Udupi Excise Deputy Commissioner T M Srinivas after searches at multiple locations allegedly revealed assets worth Rs 8.69 crore beyond his known sources of income.
Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Sunday said the state would get a new Lokayukta in the next 15 days.
The post of Karnataka Lokayukta had been lying vacant since September 2011, after Shivaraj V Patil resigned from the post in the wake of a media expose that showed irregularities in the allotment of two residential plots to him and his wife.
Madal Virupakshappa, who was in hiding for the past six days, appeared in public in his hometown Channeshpur after hearing the news that the high court had granted interim bail.
Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, came to Siddaramaiah's defence, stating that the party is standing with him and will support him.
Amid the controversy over the issue of appointment of Lokayukta by the Governor in Gujarat, Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj on Wednesday said he cannot name the new anti-corruption ombudsman in the state without the government's approval.
In a huge embarrassment to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, Lokayukta sleuths on Monday conducted searches at the residences of Deputy Chief Minister and state unit chief K S Eshwarappa in Bengaluru and in Shimoga in connection with a FIR filed against him in a disproportionate assets case.
The Karnataka High Court was on Friday informed that the state government has begun the process of appointing the Lokayuktya, a post which is lying vacant since September last year.
The Lokayukta police have summoned Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for questioning in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case on November 6, official sources said on Monday.
The Lokayukta police probing the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case on Wednesday said that the charges against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife Parvathi could not be proved for want of evidence.
"We are inclined to stay the proceedings. Accordingly the proceedings on the FIR on the issue ordered by the Karnataka Lokayukta will remain stayed," a bench comprising justices Altamas Kabir and Gyan Sudha Misra said.
In line with the August 8 order of the Lokayukta court directing investigation into the charges against Yeddyurappa in a private complaint, an FIR has been registered under section 158 (3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Incharge Lokayukta Superintendent of Police, Rangaswamy Naik told PTI.
The Karnataka government will have to restart its lookout for a new Lokayukta after the Governor formally rejected the name of Justice S R Bannurmath on Monday.
Former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde on Monday said he was not willing to be Goa Lokayukta, even if that office was offered to him.
The Karnataka CM is facing allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi B M by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
The Karnataka Lokayukta Police on Monday registered an FIR against former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his family members in connection with the anti-corruption watchdog's report into illegal mining. Besides Yeddyurappa, his sons B Y Raghavendra, B Y Vijendra and son-in-law R N Sohan Kumar and others have been named in the FIR under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Lokayukta sources said.
Lokayukta sources said much of the findings are already in the public domain as the report was leaked.
Former Supreme Court Judge, Shivaraj V Patil on Wednesday took over as Karnataka Lokayukta and said that corruption would not be tolerated at any level in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said it was too early to react to the Karnataka Lokayukta's report on illegal mining, which has indicted Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, and asked the Congress to first take action against those named in the Shunglu Committee and Delhi Lokayukta reports.
The Karnataka Lokayukta police on Tuesday carried out searches at the four offices of Sohan Kumar, son-in-law of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, in connection with the land denotification issue.
Corruption in the office of the Karnataka Lokayukta is a huge matter of debate today. Questions have been raised about the office on how it continued to book cases of corruption, especially when its own officers were corrupt.
While the Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde gives final touches to the illegal mining report, the people of Bellary say they are not bothered, and Chief Minister Yeddyurappa is on a mission to save his chair yet again. Vicky Nanjappa revisits Lokayukta's first report that came out in April 2010, and dealt with the pathetic living conditions in Bellary.
As the standoff between Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj and the state government continues over the appointment of a new Lokayukta, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party would have no choice but to prepare a new list of candidates if the Governor rejected their original recommendation.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde has decided to withdraw his resignation."If Governor H R Bhardwaj gives me an appointment, I will meet him on Sunday to withdraw my resignation," Hegde told reporters on Saturday.The top anti-corruption official had resigned to protest the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government's inaction about several of his reports, specially the one about the illegal mining lobby operating in Karnataka.
Rejecting the recommendation for appointing former Kerala high court Chief Justice S R Bannurmath as Karnataka Lokayukta, Governor H R Bhardwaj on Wednesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party government to find another judge not entangled in any controversy.
Problems for Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa continued with the Congress lodging a complaint against him and his sons in connection with a land scam on Friday.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dismisses speculation of a power struggle within the Congress party and addresses concerns regarding the Hate Speech Bill.
