Tears In The Sieve

Last week, when the nation trained its eyes on Anna Hazare’s indefinite fast at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, accompanied by infectious waves of anti-corruption sloganeering, a local broadsheet in Karnataka published names/initials of people from different professions, including government officials, who had received slush funds from the mining mafia in Bellary. A debate on the list, though precluded, has nevertheless an implication for the one raging on the Lokpal issue.

Slush fund entries totalling a few crores were found in the computers of two people—a close aide of the Bellary Reddys and a managing partner of a firm associated with illegal mining (also suspected to belong to the Reddys). These entries form part of the U.V. Singh report, which is the bedrock of the Karnataka Lokayukta report on illegal mining that less than a month ago precipitated the resignation of chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa. The entries were initially recovered by income-tax officials when they raided the premises of the individuals.

While the nearly 400 entries published by the newspaper lend themselves to multiple analyses of an entrenched, parallel governance system and a mafia network, what is of interest in the context of the Lokpal debate is the half-a-dozen entries that hold a mirror to the corruption of the Karnataka Lokayukta officials. These date back to 2009 and 2010, when Justice Santosh Hegde was at the helm of the anti-corruption body.

It follows that during the incumbency of the formidable Justice Hegde, senior Lokayukta officials under him received bribes or were on the payroll of the mining mafia. There is an entry against the name of one Muniram of the Hospet (Bellary district) Lokayukta for a sum of Rs 1,85,000. Similarly, the Karwar and Koppal district Lokayukta SPs have an entry of Rs 25,000 each. The ‘Gulbarga SP Lokayukta’ has an entry of Rs 60,000 against him. It is also alleged that a senior police officer currently with the Lokayukta in Bangalore received a bribe of Rs 6.87 lakh in March 2010 from the mining mafia.

“This is clearly a case of the ‘fence eating the crop’. Justice Hegde is regarded as one of the most effective Lokayuktas the country has had and the institution of the Lokayukta in Karnataka is the most empowered. Nevertheless, some lower-rung Lokayukta officials in the districts appear to have turned rogue. There is therefore a need to have strong checks and balances even within the anti-corruption ombudsmen. We must remember that no institution is infallible,” comments Aditya Sondhi, a Karnataka HC and Supreme Court advocate.

Author and activist Prof G. Ramakrishna says: “There is a poignant lesson here for all those who argue for a huge parallel bureaucracy for the anti-graft body. How does one create a cadre of officials with integrity when you have to graft the same government tissue into the Lokpal, that is, make a pick from the same available pool of government officials? How does one ensure that the anti-corruption officials do not add to the burden and exasperation of the general public? Hence, the recent euphoria about the Lokpal bill is misplaced.”

A top source in the government tells Outlook that the Karnataka Lokayukta police, until recently, did not even have an operational manual to guide them. Ironically, it was prepared and presented for adoption on the day Justice Hegde retired. “This may appear like a small thing, but it shows the arbitrariness with which it functioned,” the source says.