Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Wednesday June 8 that the process of appointing a new Lokayukta for the State is in its final stage and will be completed as soon as possible.
The Chief Minister’s statement came a day after the Karnataka High Court stated that the State Government was actively considering the process of appointing a Lokayukta.
Speaking to mediapersons Bommai said, “According to me, the process of appointing a Lokayukta is at its final stage, it will be completed as soon as possible, it won’t take many days.”
Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, who is a member of the panel that appoints the Lokayukta along with the Chief Minister, Speaker of the Assembly, Chairman of the Legislative Council, and the leaders of the opposition in both Houses, indicated while hearing a PIL on Tuesday June 7.
The petition, submitted by advocate Umapathi S., requested that the State appoint the Lokayukta as soon as possible. The post has been vacant since January 2022.
After five years as the Head of the Karnataka Lokayukta, Justice P. Vishwanath Shetty stepped down in January.
On the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections, Bommai said, “There is no offer
for anyone from the Bharatiya Janata Party. If JD (S) and Congress have an understanding, I don’t know. It is up to them, he said.
Bommai also called on Pontiff Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji at Avadhoota Datta Peetham at Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashrama on Mysuru-Ooty Road and sought his blessings. The Chief Minister spent
some time at the ashram. The Swamiji’s 10-day birthday celebrations
concluded on May 31.
Mysuru District In-charge Minister S. T. Somashekar, MLAs L. Nagendra, B. Harshavardhan and S. A. Ramadas and Mysuru-Kodagu Member of Parliament Prathap Simha were present.
(Inputs from CI)
