By Firoz.T.Totanawala
The Bangalore Metro Reporter
STILL VACANT!
FEUD CONTINUES BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNOR OVER LOKAYUKTA, BANNURMATH STILL SILENT.
Justice Bannurmath, the former Chief Justice of High Court has become the Centre of controversy in the state. The BJP government is hell bent on appointing Bannurmath as the Lokayukta and the Governor HR Bharadvaj is equally adamant in not signing the appointment order. The Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda has time and again insisted that Bannurmath is the government’s choice. Similarly, the Governor HR Bhardwaj has clarified that he will not clear the appointment of Bannurmath under any circumstances as long as he remained the Governor. He has advised the ruling government to suggest any other name and he will clear it immediately provided the person is honest and a man of integrity.
But, why is the Governor refusing to clear the name of Bannurmath to the Lokayukta post? Earlier, the same Governor had cleared the name of Former Supreme Court Judge Shivaraj Patil to the post to succeed Santosh Hegde. But, Shivaraj Patil could not survive in the post as the controversy regarding his acquisition of sites from Judicial Housing Society and big plots from another Vyalikaval HCS at a throwaway price hit him hard. He worked as Lokayukta only for 42 days.
Once Shivaraj Patil resigned, Sadananda Gowda was required to appoint another former Supreme Court Judge or former High Court Chief Justice as the Lokayukta. Allegedly suggested by Yedurappa, former Chief Justice of the High Court, Bannurmath was recommended to the post. Sadananda Gowda simply shot off a letter to the opposition leaders to suggest any names, if any, for the Lokayukta post. He ignored to consult the Chief Justice and as far as the Speaker and Chairman of the Legislature are concerned, they are from BJP and go by BJP’s choice. Sadananda Gowda sent the name of Bannurmath to the Governor for issuing the appointment order making Bannurmath as the Lokayukta.
But before the Governor cleared the name, the controversy of Bannurmath also acquiring a big site in the Judicial Housing Society and building a bungalow there surfaced. It is also said that the site Bannurmath purchased was reserved for Civic Amenities.
Naturally the Governor was taken aback. There were all the chances of Bannurmath too following Shivaraj Patil after he becomes the Lokayukta, unable to cope up with the exposures. There were also all the chances of people filing PIL against his ‘site’ scam.
So, the Governor refused to clear Bannurmath’s name and suggested to Sadananda Gowda to nominate other eminent retired judges to the post. But, he refused to consider any other name except Bannurmath and the Governor too stood his ground.
The feud between BJP and the Governor reached rotten level after state BJP President Eswarappa blasted the Governor calling him names and asked him to get out from the state. Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes in this regard. Yedurappa also circulated a ‘Note’ making serious allegations against the Governor. Finally when everything failed to force the Governor to clear Bannurmath to the Lokayukta post, the state BJP government took a delegation to the President demanding the Governor’s recall.
Amidst all these sound bites, the Governor still refused to clear Bannurmath. The government is adopting confrontationist attitude by making it clear that only Bannurmath is its choice and nobody else. As the attacks on the Governor became fierce and personal, the Governor took the Sadananda Gowda government head on. He clarified that he will not clear Bannurmath appointment and also ridiculed Yedurappa’s recommendations and pressure tactics to make Bannurmath, the Lokayukta. In a stinging remark, he stated that Yedurappa who himself is facing 13 criminal cases and gone to jail, cannot insist on a person of his choice to be appointed as the Lokayukta to cover up his misdeeds. This rigid stand by the governor implied that Yedurappa was possessive about the appointment of Bannurmath as the Lokayukta to cover up many cases/investigations against him.
Bannurmath’s appointment issue has become highly political and controversial. Even if the governor succumbs and appoints him as the Lokayukta, can any sane person expect Bannurmath to bring credibility to the Lokayukta post? He has already been branded as a Yedurappa man. Motives will be attributed to every move by Bannurmath, in case he becomes the Lokayukta. His decisions will be questioned by the ‘sensitive’ section of the society. However honest and a man of integrity Bannurmath may be, the fact remains that he will not be in a position to discharge his duties as the Lokayukta.
And the interesting thing about the entire episode is the ‘silence’ of Bannurmath. He is regarded as a fine Judge and has given some milestone judgments. Any other sensible person of his stature would have cried ‘enough is enough’ by this time. He would have enhanced his dignity by publicly refusing to be considered for the Lokayukta post. In that event, he would be spared of the controversies and mudslinging. But the question is - why is Justice Bannurmath silent?
And that is all.
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