"This is nothing but mockery of the whole judicial process," Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal said in stinging remarks against the Narendra Modi government as she returned the new Lokayukta Bill for reconsideration by the legislative assembly.
In a major setback to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, the Lokayukta court has ordered a probe against him in connection with an illegal mining case. The Lokayukta special court also ordered probes against former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and N Dharam Singh in connection with the same case. Lokayukta Special Court Judge N K Sudhindra Rao on Saturday directed the police to complete the probe by January 6 and submit its final report.
Former judge of the Rajasthan high court Justice Sajjan Singh Kothari was on Monday sworn in as Lokayukta.
The Gujarat high court gave a split verdict on the appointment of a Lokayukta by the governor with one judge upholding it and another differing from that view.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and his wife Datty on Monday appeared before the Lokayukta court here in connection with a complaint filed against them alleging that they had obtained sites through illegal allotment.
Retired Gujarat High Court Judge D P Buch was Wednesday sworn-in as the state's fourth Lokayukta by Governor Kamla Beniwal. The post that had been lying vacant for a decade.
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.
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.
As per the details put up on the Lokayukta website, the retired Supreme Court judge has immovable assets worth Rs 62,47,556 and his wife Rs 66,34,880.
Unfazed by the high court verdict on the Gujarat Lokayukta appointment issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said though the case will now go to a three-judge bench, politically the governor's decision is untenable as she is bound to act as per the advice of the Council of Ministers.
A court in Bengaluru on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of former Karnataka minister Katta Subramanaya Naidu filed on health grounds but permitted the land scam accused to undergo treatment in any hospital in the country.
Congress and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been attacking him for alleged corruption, to approach the Lokayukta, with the veteran leader asserting that he was ready to face the "consequences".
In an unprecedented move that will surely bring her on a collision course with the state government, Gujarat Governor Dr Kamla Beniwal, using her special powers, has appointed retired judge of Gujarat high court Justice RA Mehta as the Lokayukta of the state.The governor has bypassed the Narendra Modi-led state government while making the appointment. The state government has been sitting on the file regarding the appointment of a state Lokayukta.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa finally walked free after spending 23 days in jail on Tuesday. His legal team completed all the formalities and also got the release order copy signed by the special Lokayukta judge who is originally seized off this matter.
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.
The wait continues for the naming of a new Uttar Pradesh lokayukta as a meeting on Sunday to decide on the same failed to do so with the Allahabad high court chief justice questioning the validity of the process.
Former Kerala high court chief justice S R Bannurmath has decided to quit the post of Lokayukta in Karnataka. Karnataka Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda said that the judge had sent a letter to him, requesting the state government not to pursue the matter with Governor H R Bharadwaj. Justice Bannurmath backed out after Bharadwaj rejected the government's recommendation to appoint him as Lokayukta, citing a land row among other reasons.
With the lengthy battle over his appointment finally settled by the apex court, the ball is now in Justice Mehta's court. He has been non-committal over his appointment as the state legal ombudsman. All eyes are now on his return from abroad on August 5. Sheela Bhatt reports.
Justice Shivraj Patil, former Judge of the Supreme Court will replace Justice Santhosh Hegde as the next Lokayukta of Karnataka next month. Speaking for the first time after his name was cleared by the Karnataka administration for the post, Patil tells Vicky Nanjappa in this short interview, that he is up to the challenge.
Gujarat Lokayukta Justice R A Mehta's resignation letter is a stinging indictment of the Narendra Modi government's obstructionist attitude towards a constitutional watchdog.
In the continuing tug of war between Narendra Modi government and the governor, the state assembly on Tuesday passed the Gujarat Lokayukta Ayog Bill 2013 for a second time without incorporating any major changes sought by Raj Bhavan, setting the stage for a fresh confrontation.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav received a jolt on Tuesday when Governor Ram Naik finally rejected his recommendation for the appointment of the state's Lokayukta.
'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'
In a major embarrassment for the Uttar Pradesh government, the SC on Wednesday appointed retired judge Justice Virender Singh as the state's Lokayukta.
Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as judicial members in the anti-corruption ombudsman.
In yet another embarrassment to the government, former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas on Monday turned down the offer to head Lokpal search committee, days after jurist Fali Nariman opted out of the panel.
The government is moving a proposal to amend the Lokpal Act and the law governing the functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation to ensure there is no requirement of "quorum" in the respective selection panels for choosing the anti-corruption ombudsman or the CBI chief.
Justice Yashwant Varma noted that the 75-year-old politician's objection with respect to the maintainability of the proceedings were not dealt with by the anti-corruption authority.
The stalemate over the appointment continues as UP CM Akhilesh Yadav recommends same name to Ram Naik for the fourth time in 20 days.
Justice Ghose, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2017, is a member of the National Human Rights Commission.
An official said Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, a judicial member of Lokpal, has been given additional charge of the post of chairperson.
Justice Ghose, the former Supreme Court judge, was on March 19 appointed as the country's first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman.
The special Lokayukta court in Bengaluru on Saturday adjourned to September 22 further hearing on a complaint filed against former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in a case of alleged graft.
A special court in Bengaluru has ordered the registration of a 'special criminal case' against former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa regarding alleged corruption in a land denotification issue when he was the deputy CM in the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal-Secular coalition government in 2006-07.
One more ruling Bharatiya Janata Party legislator on Tuesday joined the list of party leaders facing land scam charges with a court in Haveri on Tuesday directing Lokayukta police to probe a private complaint against Nehru Olekar that he secured land to two educational institutions allegedly in violation of rules.
In more trouble for jailed former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, a local court on Wednesday granted one month time to Lokayukta police to submit its final report in a corruption case filed against him.
The move assumes significance as the government decided to go ahead with the formation of the search committee despite Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the Lokpal selection panel.
The Lokayukta court in Bengaluru on Thursday ordered a probe against three former Karnataka chief ministers -- former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and B S Yeddyurappa, on a complaint alleging irregularities in the Bangalore-Mysore expressway project.
The special Lokayukta court on Saturday adjourned to December 2 hearing of the bail application filed by Bharatiya Janata Party corporator Katta Jagadish, who is under judicial custody following his arrest in a land scam.
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party member of Legislative Assembly Y Sampangi became the first Karnataka legislator to be convicted in a corruption case. The Lokayukta special court sentenced the BJP MLA to three-and-a half-year rigorous imprisonment in a bribery case.