Amid intense speculation on the fate of the indicted Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde will submit his report on mining scam to the State government on Wednesday.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa speaks to Karnataka Home Minister Dr V S Acharya, former minister and opposition Janata Dal-Secular minister M C Nanaiah, and state Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde to gauge the various conflicts that are complicating the ongoing political crisis in the state, and presents a comparative report.
Lokayutka of Karnataka Justice Santosh Hegde said that the proposal made by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to give suo motu powers to the Lokayukta to investigate all public servants except the chief minister, ministers, legislators and public servants nominated by the government, neither makes him happy nor sad.
Illegal mining activities in Karnataka have wiped out 2,800 acres of forest land in the state, according to the probe report by Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is keeping matters close to its heart amid factions within the party warring over the post of the next chief minister.
Justice Shivraj Patil will take over as the Lokayukta in Karnataka once Justice Santosh Hegde retires in August.Justice Patil, who belongs to the Lingayat community of Karnataka, was recently in the news when he was the appointed to probe the lapses in the sale of 2G spectrum by the telecom ministry. Justice Patil will take over as the top anti-corruption official of Karnataka at a crucial time, when the state government is trying to play down the report on illegal mining.
In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, the Karnataka Lokayukta makes it clear that he would not make life miserable for the Bharatiya Janata Party just because the Congress wants him to do it.
The Karnataka government has suspended 40 officials and staff and issued show-cause notices to 257 who have been named by Lokayukta reports in illegal mining in Karnataka, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said.
Karnataka minister for tourism and mining magnate Janardhan Reddy has decided to hang his boots as an industrialist for good.
Justice Santosh Hegde has become a very popular face at the protests against corruption at Freedom Park in Bengaluru.
Justice Santosh Hegde has become a very popular face at the protests against corruption at Freedom Park in Bengaluru.
Documents reveal that out of the 80 odd mining leases in the Bellary region, at least 45 are raising contracts or mines run by third party.
Karnataka high court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation, charging Governor H R Bhardwaj, Home Minister R Asoka, Bharatiya Janata Party member of parliament Ananth Kumar and former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde with conspiring to unseat former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa when he was in power.
Vicky Nanjappa explores Justice Santosh Hegde's report on illegal mining in Karnataka and finds out a shocking case of abuse of power and guidelines in Bellary
The mining scam in Karnataka could easily be worth Rs 2,500 crore says Justice Santosh Hegde, the state's Lokayukta. An exclusive first person account to Rediff.com
In a strong indictment of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, state Lokayukta Justice Santosh N Hegde on Thursday said he has given 'substantive' and 'voluminous' evidence against him in the illegal mining scam which has cost the state exchequer Rs 1800 crore in a period of 14 months.
'I thought AAP will uphold administrative fairness which is not there. And it is an indication of the fact that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely'
Retired Karnataka High Court Judge S B Majage was sworn as the state's Upalokayukta at a brief ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru. The Upalokayukta post had been lying vacant for seven months.
'If tainted leaders come to power, they may tamper with the files and weaken the cases against them,' says former Lokayukta of Karnataka Santosh Hegde
Karnataka BJP too said such a proposal is "neither the wish nor the will" of the party.
"You can't meddle with patriotism. Everything is alright but patriotism can never be compromised," says retired Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde.
'When a newspaper says that Karnataka leads in corruption, one must also know it means Karnataka leads in patronising corruption.' 'You can't be corrupt without me succumbing to your corruption.'
'Justice is done, I stand vindicated...' Yeddyurappa tweeted.