Cong targets Hegde: Lokayukta failed to curb graft in Karnataka

Former SC judge has said that he was reconsidering his decision to be on the Lokpal panel.

Unfazed by Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegdes threat to quit the joint committee set up to draft the Lokpal Bill,Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Thursday reiterated that the Lokayukta was not able to control corruption in Karnataka.

Stung by Singhs remarks earlier in the day that the Karnataka Lokayukta had failed to curb corruption,Hegde said in Bangalore that he was thinking of quitting the panel as he cannot fight this kind of battle. Reacting to this,Singh told The Indian Express: I was only stating the fact. All I said was that there is rampant corruption in Karnataka government and he is not able to control it.

Echoing Singhs views,Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said: He is a very eminent former judge of the Supreme Court and I do not wish to join issue with him. But I would definitely like to point out the widely held perception that Karnataka government is the mother head of corruption in the country….

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Asked if he implied that the Karnataka Lokayukta was not able to deal with the menace,Tewari said,I am not making any insinuation and comments against any individual or institution.

The Congress also sought to suggest that former law minister Shanti Bhushan should quit the joint committee in the wake of the controversial disclosures.

Those people who want to measure up society and individuals by a certain moral yardstick need to seriously introspect whether they measure up to the yardstick or not, said Tewari.

Asked whether he implied that Bhushan should quit the panel following the CD controversy and the allotment of land,Tewari said that his was only a generic comment.