Govt will not implement Lokayukta mining report, says Justice Hegde

Former Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde today said he does not believe the government would implement his report on illegal mining as “many skeletons will fall out of its cupboard”.

The former ombudsman urged for an independent panel to probe further the Lokayukta report and implement it. “Do you think the government will ever implement the report?” the former Supreme Court Judge asked, expressing pessimism over BJP government acting on the report submitted to it on July 27 when he was the Lokayukta.

B S Yeddyurappa resigned as chief minister four days later on July 31 after being indicted in the report and was told by the party’s central leadership to quit. The report estimated the loss to state exchequer because of illegal mining between 2006 and 2010 at more than Rs 16,000 crore.

The government, headed by Yeddyurappa’s successor D V Sadananda Gowda, has appointed a committee led by additional chief secretary K Jairaj to study the Lokayukta report and it has been asked to submit a report in two months.

The government’s stand has been that it would take a view on the Lokayukta report only after the committee gave its report. But, Hegde remains unimpressed, indicating that the change of guard at the helm does not inspire him to believe that something would come out of it.

“Somebody else (not the committee) should take over the responsibility. There should be an independent commission to probe this (Lokayukta report). Too many skeletons will fall off the cupboard (if the report is implemented),” Hegde, who retired as Lokayukta a month ago, said.

“797 officials have been identified, and they have been named for receiving bribe from the mining lobby,” said Hegde who as a member of Team Anna was in the forefront during the recent campaign seeking a stronger and effective Lokpal. “What will be the intention of bureaucrats and political classes...(is easy to gauge; they will not act),” he said.

Hegde said the secretary-level study would not serve any purpose as ‘lagaam’ (control) is in the hands of the Cabinet. He said the committee would not be able to do “all these things very fast with so many other things (that they have to take care)”.

The report runs into 25,000 pages. “Therefore, we should have a body which has no other work,” he said.