How effective is the Lokayukta in providing justice?

Seventeen-year-old Sanjana Singh's death in a wall collapse has made Bangaloreans angry. They are upset with the way the probe into her death has gone, they are upset with the fact that the wall was made up of substandard material. They want the Lokayukta to intervene, punish the guilty and they believe the Lokayukta can do that.   But city's  legal experts and civic activists are not so optimistic.

“Without the power to prosecute, a Lokayukta inquiry will just remain a ritual. Lokayukta can only submit the probe report to the state government. Lokayukta has no powers to deliver punishment. Going by earlier experiences I have no expectations of the guilty getting punished, especially if the guilty happens to be an influential person,” said retired high court judge AJ Sadashiva.

Successive governments have boasted about strengthening the Lokayukta but in reality they have put more restrictions on its functioning. “Otherwise, why would the then chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde, who was instrumental in bringing the Karnataka Lokayukta Act in 1986 with suo motu powers to fight corruption, withdraw those powers within a year? Since then, governments have ensured that the Lokayukta remains a toothless tiger,” says justice Sadashiva.

The very fact that the parents of Sanjana have moved the Lokayukta instead of seeking justice from the mayor reflects the lack of faith people have in our politicians and bureaucracy, said legal expert and former law minister MC