Although only 40 persons have been chargesheeted in 186 raids conducted by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog in the last four years, Lokayukta justice Santosh N Hegde is still going strong in his war against graft.
In the first of this year’s raids, the Lokayukta police swooped down on 10 government officers across the state and stumbled upon properties worth Rs9.17 crore, which were disproportionate to their regular source of income.
Speaking to DNA, justice Hegde expressed difficulty in conducting raids with minimal information on asset details. “It takes a long time for us to gather information on officers who are to be raided. After a chargesheet is filed, the government takes an even longer time to grant permission for prosecution. For example, last year, 54 people were raided and disproportionate assets worth Rs59.40 crore were uncovered. All the cases are currently in the investigation stage. But just because the investigation is moving slow, it does not mean that we should keep mum and refrain from conducting any more raids. It is a difficult situation, but we have to move on,” he said.
Justice Hegde said that as most raids were conducted on government officers, they required details of their assets for verification. “We have requested the government to submit copies of asset details pertaining to about three lakh government officers. As of now, whenever we get information on a government officer, we have to apply for reports on their assets and liabilities. By that time, the officer comes to know that he will soon be subjected to a raid, and arranges for temporary disposal of his movable assets. This nullifies the very purpose of the raid,” he said.
He said that when a government officer submits details of his assets and liabilities to the government, a copy should be sent to the Lokayukta also. Justice Hegde also expressed his displeasure over the attitude of legislators, who do not submit details in an appropriate manner. “They are supposed to give it by June 30. However, most of the time, MLAs and MLCs either delay the procedure, manipulate the details or do not submit them at all. But it all comes out in the end,” the Lokayukta said.
Speaking on the 10 officers who were subjected to raids across various districts of the state on Thursday, justice Hegde said that details of their assets and liabilities were not available with the Lokayukta police and had to be applied for. “We have discovered that once the officer concerned receives information on an impending raid, he uses middlemen to transfer his property temporarily. We have also requested the government to look into the anti-touting laws to clamp down on this,” he added.
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