The anti-corruption ombudsman, lokayukta, remaining headless in the state has drawn the ire of the Karnataka high court, but what has gone unnoticed is the quiet and slow death of the agency’s police wing, which is considered to be the sword and the cutting edge of the quasi-judicial body. Sample this to understand the gravity of the situation: Lokayukta police wings in 16 districts are headless and in in Hospet, the hotbed of illegal mining, the posts of SP, DySP and police inspectors remain vacant. The lokayukta police wing in Hospet is functioning with just one inspector and a few constables, while the ground realities in that place mandates additional personnel to fight corruption. The situation in Raichur is no different as the top posts of SP, DySP and police inspectors are vacant. The situation in Yadgir district, too, is just as bad. As for Bangalore city, two posts in the rank of SP remain vacant, apart from a few more in the police inspector’s rank. Speaking to DNA, HN Sathyanarayan Rao, additional director general of police, lokayukta, admitted that functioning of the lokayukta has been hampered due to posts of superintendents of police in so many districts remaining vacant. “These posts are vacant for the past several months and they have remained vacant even after us writing to the state government to fill up the posts,” he said. Rao blamed the police department for delays in posting personnel to these posts and hoped the posts would be filled during the next transfer season. “We will have to wait for another two months or so for that,” he said. According to sources, after the retirement of Justice N Santosh Hegde as lokayukta, not only the police wing but even the public prosecutors’ wing of lokayukta has been put on the death bed. “Many corrupt police officers have been posted for lokayukta duty which is eroding the credibility of the institution. Justice Hegde used to hand pick police officers after thoroughly checking their track records. But now, such enthusiasm is missing in getting good police officers for Lokayukta duty,” a source said. The documents in possession of DNA present a sorry state of affairs in the crucial public prosecutors (personnel) wing of lokayukta too. Of the 10 posts in this section, seven are vacant. That’s not all: two posts of additional registrars in the inquiry (personnel) wing, three posts of deputy registrars and two posts of assistant registrars are also begging to be filled.****
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=22534&boxid=14629&ed_date=2012-07-19&ed_code=820009&ed_page=11 **** ** ** Comment:**** Why are Anna Hazare and Team Anna so silent and turning a deaf ear and blind eye? Is the Lok Ayukta not important enough in Karnataka or Gujarat where no Lok Ayukta was appointed for over 7 years? ** Regards,**** ** ** Marshall****