Stepping up its attack on Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare-led civil society, Congress on Wednseday dubbed the yoga guru as a 'king of black money' and Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde as a 'Bharatiya Janata Party man'.
The defamation suit was filed by Indian Police Service officer, Hemanth Nimbalkar, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
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.
"I am happy that justice has prevailed. I hope the government will be alive to having an institution like Lokayukta", he told reporters, recalling the trapping of Sampangi by Loakyukta sleuths when he was the Lokayukta.
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.
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'.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, a member of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill, on Monday said that he would not like to continue in his chair after the expiry of his five-year term in August.
Not willing to give up easily, B S Yeddyurappa has moved the Karnataka high court against the mining report by Lokayukta Santosh Hegde indicting him. Vicky Nanjappa reports on the outgoing chief minister's latest move
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dismisses speculation of a power struggle within the Congress party and addresses concerns regarding the Hate Speech Bill.
Justice Santhosh Hegde, former Lokayukta of Karnataka and Team Anna member, has been booked by the police for falsifying charges against an IPS officer.
Hours before Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde demitted office, outgoing Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday filed a petition before him seeking reconsideration of his report indicting him in the illegal mining that cost him the top post.
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.
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 row over former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's insinuation that illegal mining was akin to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's dealings escalated on Tuesday with Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar calling it 'baseless and unwarranted' and also far from reality.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that if the leaked report of the Karnataka Lokayukta on illegal mining is correct, then it is an indictment of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
The Lokayukta court has summoned former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to appear before it on August 27.The former CM and his family members were indicted in a report on the illegal mining racket in the state by former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde. The case against Yeddyurappa was filed by advocate Sirajudin Pasha. Earlier, the state governor had accorded sanction to prosecute the beleaguered BJP leader.But the trouble for the ruling BJP doesn't end here.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Monday described as "too premature" the clean chit given by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to the Reddy brothers facing charges of illegal mining.
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.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Friday objected to the state government's decision to order a judicial probe into land scam allegation faced by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and said he will complete the pending inquiry into a complaint on the same issue.
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.
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 Governor H R Bharadwaj caught everyone by surprise on Wednesday when he said that he would immediately sign the papers if the government proposed the name of Justice Santosh Hegde for the post of Lokayukta.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Wednesday said he would take the assistance of the Central Bureau of Investigation 'if need arise' in the investigation into illegal mining in the state
Former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice (retd) Santosh Hegde on Sunday opposed granting financial assistance to people affected by closure of mining in Goa and expressed doubts over the state government's willingness to implement recommendations of Justice M B Shah Commission.
A part of the Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's voluminous report on illegal mining, which has rocked the Karnataka government, deals specifically on the role of the Reddy brothers of Bellary in the multi-crore scam.
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj has rejected the resignation of the state's Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde. Sources in the Raj Bhavan, while refusing to reveal details about the governor's decision, confirmed that Justice Hegde's resignation had been rejected.The Lokayukta had tendered his resignation on Wednesday citing the failure of the government to protect the interest of the institution.Hegde slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party government for reneging on its promise.
In the backdrop of transfer of Haryana IAS officer for probing land deals, former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde on Thursday asked state and central governments to leave issue of transfers to bureaucracy.
Rediff.com brings you some explosive extracts from the 400-page report that has triggered a political tsunami.
Initially, it was all gold. But Justice Hegde's report exposed the dingy substrate of Bellary's mining operations.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's followers spoke up for him before the Bharatiya Janata Party's high command on Friday morning. Now, they have decided to take on the report on illegal mining by Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde that indicts the CM and his family.
Putting up a brave face despite the damning indictment by the state Lokayukta on illegal mining, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said his government needs time to study the "voluminous" report submitted by the anti-corruption watchdog and maintained that "most of its points" were pending in courts. Reacting to the report of Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, Yeddyurappa pointed out that it was a voluminous report running into hundreds of pages and had 31 chapters.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Sunday insisted that he had given no licence for mining in forest area in Karnataka in his capacity as the state chief minister, a day after a probe was ordered against him in a mining scam.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday requested Justice N Santosh Hegde, who resigned from the post of Lokayukta of Karnataka on June 23 over the manner in which the government had treated some of his reports, to reconsider his decision.
Karnataka Governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj, who has been let down once too often by New Delhi, is unlikely to take any precipitate action against Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, even though, according to the Constitution, he has considerable powers once it comes to the Lokayukta, say highly-placed sources.
Lokayukta sources said much of the findings are already in the public domain as the report was leaked.
State exchequer lost Rs 325 crore, says Lokayukta.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde's sudden resignation has come as a shock to the state and an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party government, which is incidentally gearing up for grand celebrations on Friday marking two years in office.
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.
Another interesting part of the report is the one on illegalities in M/s Janthakal Enterprises. It talks about Daya Nayak and H D Kumraswamy trying to exercise their clout and how iron ore was exported to Pakistan illegally.
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.