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.
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 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.
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.
The state government had recommended the name of Justice S R Bannurmath as the next Lokayukta. However, the Governor sent the file back stating that he required clarifications on the same.
The Kerala high court on Thursday directed the state police to hand over to the probe into the murder of Muthoot business group scion Paul Muthoot George to the Central Bureau of Investigation. A division bench comprising Chief Justice S R Bannurmath and Justice Thothathil B Radhakrishnan also directed the CBI to complete the investigations within six months. The court's direction came due to a petition filed by Muthoot business group Chairman M G George.
The Kerala high court reserved its judgment on Thursday on a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the murder of Muthoot business group scion Paul Muthoot George in August 2009.
Serial killer Umesh Reddy, who has been charged with the rapes and murders of several women, was on Wednesday sentenced to death by the Karnataka High Court. Special judge S R Bannurmath, a senior High Court judge, while pronouncing the verdict, termed Reddy as a violent offender and described the case as 'rarest of the rare' and deserving the death sentence.
The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission has initiated a probe into last week's raids by the Malwani police at hotels and a beach in Mumbai taking suo motu cognisance of the matter.
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