Team Anna member N Santosh Hegde on Friday blamed all political parties for non-passage of the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha, saying it was "choreographed by everybody".
In yet another sign of fissure in his relations with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj has sought an "unconditional apology" from Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa over his reported remarks on illegal mining issue.
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.
"Opposition parties hoping that I would quit would be disappointed," Yeddyurappa told media persons at the Bangalore Airport, on arrival from Mauritius, where he was on a six-day holiday with his family
In the wake of Karnataka Lokayukta's indictment of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on the illegal mining issue, Congress on Thursday gunned for his removal, but a defensive Bharatiya Janata Party said the report had "lost sanctity" as it has been leaked.
The Karnataka government is contemplating the next course of action in the wake of the damning revelations of the report by state Lokayukta Santosh Hegde about the involvement of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and several ministers of the state in the lucrative illegal mining racket.
The two lawyers, who had first moved the Governor seeking sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister, moved the special court with two separate petitions.
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.
"We propose to cover organisations like ISRO and arms deals under the purview of Jan Lokpal as they are important from internal security angle, besides the Prime Minister above all who will come under its jurisdiction," Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde, part of the 10-member Joint Drafting Committee on Lokpal Bill, told media persons in Bengaluru.
Former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on Wednesday suggested that corporates and NGOs should also be brought under the purview of the Jan Lokpal bill.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Thursday said he was reconsidering his decision to be on the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, apparently upset over the vilification campaign against the anti-graft panel.
Team Anna member and former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice (retd) N Santosh Hegde on Tuesday appealed to Anna Hazare to end his eight-day fast, saying everyone is "honestly" concerned about his health.
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.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday made it clear that Anna Hazare and his team could have moved the court if they had problems with the conditions imposed on the activist's proposed fast by the Delhi police. But given the glaring loopholes in the hasty action taken against Hazare, the government seems to be on a very weak footing.
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.
Outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who lost his job in the wake of his indictment by Lokayukta in the illegal mining scam, on Tuesday publicly said he would return to this post in six months.
N Santosh Hegde on Tuesday retired as Karnataka Lokayukta after an "eventful" five years in office and said effort by some ministers to discredit his mining report that cost B S Yeddyurappa his chair was not unexpected as he has brought out a 'bitter truth'.
A crucial meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party, chaired by B S Yeddyurappa, will be held at 4:30 am on Friday at Hotel Ashok.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Tuesday described as a "political game" Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's appeal to the prime minister to constitute a committee to inquire into the alleged phone-tapping scandal.
Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde said the need to obtain sanction from a competent authority to prosecute public servants in cases of corruption is weakening the fight against corruption in the country.
A day after asking Anna Hazare not to fast from August 16 if a strong anti-corruption bill is not prepared, Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, a Lokpal Bill drafting committee member, on Sunday expressed solidarity with him saying that they had no differences.
Meetings of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill slated for June 20 and 21 would be a mere formality with little scope for discussion, Karnataka Lokayukta and a member of the panel Santosh Hegde said on Thursday.
There was hue and cry over the Lokayukta report on illegal mining in Bellary, and in even went on to cost B S Yeddyurappa his chair as the chief minister of Karnataka. But today the entire focus is on Goa which, according to the preliminary report of the Shah commission, gives the indication that illegal mining in the tourist haven is nothing short of the Bellary scenario.
Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge known for his vigorous campaign against corruption, had on Friday said that former Chief Justice of India J S Verma, would be the most ideal person for the post.
It was the name that was doing the rounds in the media since ousted Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was asked to resign following the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
10 mn-tonne plant in Mamata's crosshairs; company says work in progress.
Amid speculation that Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa will be forced to quit in the wake of Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hedge indicting him and others in his report on illegal mining, the news from the Bharatiya Janata Pary high command is that any decision in this regard will be taken only on Thursday.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who is holidaying in Mauritius issued a statement stating that he will complete his term as the CM.
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.
In an interview with Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, one of the members of the Joint Drafting Committee if the Lokpal Bill, sets the record straight on why the talks broke down.
A wasted exercise, a total flop show and not to mention a total failure: This is how Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde, member of the Lokpal Bill drafting panel, described the final outcome following the last meeting of the committee with the government.
Karnataka Lokayukta and a member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Santosh Hegde on Saturday said he was apprehensive about the final outcome of the proposed bill as it could be a watered down version of what was originally envisaged.
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.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde, whose resignation was rejected by Governor H R Bhardwaj on Thursday, has refused to reconsider his decision.Speaking about his telephonic conversation with Home Minister P Chidambaram, Justice Hegde said it was merely a courtesy call. "He has every right to call me since we have been friends since the past 40 years. He was obviously taken aback by my decision to quit so suddenly," he said.
He said the "countdown has begun for Narendra Modi," citing the results of Rajasthan by-polls in which the ruling BJP faced an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Congress which won two Lok Sabha seats and one assembly segment.
A former chief justice of the Allahabad high court, Justice Bhosale was sworn-in on March 27, 2019 for a five-year term. He resigned citing personal reasons.
Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday launched a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party saying the party which indulges in "doublespeak" on corruption cannot question the prime minister on the issue as the UPA has taken graft head on and its ministers have resigned on "mere" allegations.
'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
Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who has decided to rejoin the Bharatiya Janata Party, said on Tuesday that his return was unconditional for the larger interest of the country and for the party's Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi.