Is Justice Hegde blinded by his desire to head a Janlokpal?

Eight days back,first The Times Now channel & subsequently all the Delhi media broke the story of Karnataka Lokpal report. The report is said to have named Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa, his cabinet colleagues and MLA’s from opposition JDS & Congress party. Justice Hegde did this this report per the request of Yeddyurappa government. The breaking story was followed up by a series of on camera appearances by Justice Hegde himself explaining his leaked report. None of the distinguished Delhi television anchor/journos asked him how the report was leaked. Instead everyone was so enthusiastic to know if the report had enough substance to have Yeddyurappa axed. On the contrary the Delhi Lokayukta report which indicts CM Sheila Dixit has been conveniently brushed under the carpet by the media. I know our media is biased & they will go to any extent to please congress bosses who have been patronizing/using the media to remain in the business.

This exclusive interview that Justice Hegde gave to Bharka Dutt of NDTV raises many questions. He is openly giving out classified information on questions asked by Bharkha basing on leaked info that her channel has accessed. This is gross violation of his position by Justice Hegde. How can he authenticate & substantiate a leaked report while the original report is yet to reach the government? The 14 odd minutes interview very clearly spells out the complete report while the Government who appointed Justice Hegde to carry out the investigation & report are still awaiting to see the report. Is this not a good enough reason to say that Justice Santosh Hegde is using his position against the morals & ethics of the Lokpal institution? Is this also not good enough to say that Justice Hegde or his team members have leaked the report to satisfy someone high & mighty or for personal advantage?

At the same time the Delhi Lokayukta report was submitted to the government & when no actions were taken by the Delhi Government , The Delhi Lokayukta Mr.Manmohan Sarin has recommended President Pratibha Patil to censure Sheila Dixit. This by no means was a big news for our main stream media. I have not seen Mr.Sarin being interviewed in the same manner as Justice Hegde was by any of our celebrity Journos. This highlights another facet of media bias. Our media , especially the Delhi celebrity journos love only English speaking politicians. A small example could be , if you look at how Bharka questions Karnataka BJP MLA Dhanunjeya Kumar & the rest of liberals on the Bhagavad Gita episode on NDTV. Sheila Dixit comes across as a suave english speaking ,well mannered politico to these journos unlike a Yeddyurappa who is very strongly rooted to Rural Karnataka & his English has a Kannada Accent. Even in case of CWG this argument holds good as Kalmadi had been censured by everyone in the media while Sheila goes untouched inspite of Shungloo Committee indicting her. Last but not the least, everyone can see how media dodges to take on P.Chidambaram in 2G while going ballistic against Raja,Kanimozhi or a Maran. Right now the media in the country is biased towards Congress & goes to any extent to bail them out.

My point is not about Sheila Dixit or Yeddyurappa. Its about the institution of Lokpal. This post is to highlight the ineffectiveness of Ombudsman in our environment. The leaking of Karnataka Lokayukta report & Mr.Hegde himself giving clarifications shows how politicized are our institutions in the current environment. Look at the case of Sheila Dixit, she has been indicted by both Shungloo committee as well as Lokayukta & still is untouchable & unfazed. This also proves a point that even the proposed Janlokpal will be of no use for this country. What we need now is REFORMS in all sectors & institutions. It has to start with electoral reforms to political,judicial,administrative,police & the list goes on endlessly. Without proper reforms there is no point having an OMBUDSMAN in place like the Lokpal or Janlokpal. The state of Gujarat is a classic example we have in front us today. The people of Gujarat dont feel the need for an Ombudsman like Lokpal there because of proactive reforms & stress on local governance by the Narendra Modi administration.

Coming back to the Karnataka Lokayukta leaked report episode, I am personally convinced that Justice Santosh Hegde who was known for his honesty & integrity has fully compromised his position. He is also an advisor on the National Advisory Council which in itslef is unconstitutional but drafts all the bills for the current UPA government. Mr.Hegde has been the front runner along with Bhushans to head the Janlokpal if it becomes a reality. With this background,the selective leaking of Karnataka Mining report by him makes me think if he or his people have leaked this to make a strong case for him in Janlokpal. Mr.Hegde has right from the beginning been advocating a Karnataka model for Janlokpal. Was this in national interest or did it have personal motive. If there was no personal motives behind then he has colluded with someone politically high & mighty with vested interests. His last three days comments like “my telephones are tapped” & “i have no faith in Karnataka Government , will approach Supreme Court” without even presenting his report to the government raises my above question.

Morally both Sheila & Yeddyurappa have to resign to restore people’s faith in electoral college & high offices. I have a year back written & have always maintained that Yeddyurappa ought to have been replaced by BJP. By not doing so the BJP is damaging its own image & will prove very costly in the run up to 2014…………………..

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