Santosh Hegde hails Parliament for acception Jan Lokpal points

Former Karnataka Lok Ayukta N Santosh Hegde on Tuesday hailed Parliament for rising to the occasion and accepting key points from the Jan Lokpal Bill.

He was speaking at the 85th birth anniversary of former chief minister of Karnataka Ramakrishna Hegde.

Admitting that enacting the proposed legislation will take time, justice Hegde said, “However, Parliament will surely be looking at working swiftly as it needs to do some damage control now.”

“The Karnataka Lokayukta Act of 1984, the first of its kind in India, was the brainchild of Ramakrishna Hegde, the then chief minister of Karnataka, who was inspired by the successful working of the Swedish ombudsman in keeping the country generally corruption free,” justice Hegde said, recalling how the powerful institution came into existence.

He hailed the powers given to Lok Ayukta, which did not leave even the chief minister out of its purview.