By Firoz.T.Totanawala
The Bangalore Metro Reporter
THE POINT OF NO RETURN….
DESPITE OPPOSITION, RECALL OF UPA LOKAYUKTA DIFFICULT
There is a demand for withdrawal of Justice (Rtd) Chandrashekaraiah's appointment as Upa Lokayukta. The ball was set in motion by the Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen who had taken exception to the appointment of Chandrashekaraiah on the plea that he had not recommended his name. The Governor HR Bharadwaj who cleared the name within minutes and administered the oath within hours, has also changed. Besides, many political leaders are also demanding the recall of Chandrashekaraiah. While the Chief Minister D.V.Sadananda Gowda defends his appointment, the Law Minister Suresh Kumar has stated that he will leave the matter to the legislature to decide.
In spite of Justice (Rtd) Chandrashekaraiah's appointment as Upa Lokayukta being controversial, it is difficult for the government to recall or withdraw his appointment. It is not a simple matter. His appointment can be revoked or recalled only by the Assembly through impeachment which is next to impossible, given the present political scenario. The Sadananda government has to defend it, the opposition Congress too will not oppose it because of political compulsion and the JD(S) too will not oppose it because of Chandrashekaraiah's links with HD Devegowda family.
What more, Chandrashekaraiah is not keeping quite either. He had made it amply clear that he has come to stay and questioned the detractors to show the reasons for his recall. He clarified that the Lokayukta Act does not give power to the government to withdraw the appointment of Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta once the oath of office is administered. The only way to remove him, he asserts, is through impeachment by the legislature and he says that he will abide by the decision of the legislature.
Well, forget about passing, in fact, moving an impeachment motion itself is a complex issue. First, charges have to be made out and a preliminary enquiry has to be held. The accused has to be given sufficient opportunity to defend. Only after the probe committee comes to the conclusion that there is substance in the charges, the impeachment motion can be moved in the Assembly. Here too, the accused has to be given sufficient opportunity to defend his actions in the Assembly itself. And only after the motion is passed by three fourth majorities, impeachment can be done and the accused will be removed. This is the set rules for the removal of Lokayukta / Upa Lokayukta.
On the face of it, he cannot be removed and his judicial orders or adventures during his long years as the judge of the High Court do not matter now. One cannot question such actions after he became the Upa Lokayukta. His tenure as a Judge has ended long back that was in 2004. He was the Chairman of the State Consumer Forum from 2004 to 2009. And here too, his actions cannot be questioned now. As such, there are no grounds, as on now, to remove Chandrashekaraiah through impeachment. In fact, impeachment is the ultimate weapon which has to be used in extreme situations and Chandrashekaraiah's case is no way near to 'extreme' situation.
It is another matter that judge M.F.Saldhana has addressed a strong letter to the Government making serious charges against Chandrashekaraiah and demanding his appointment to be revoked. He has cited few cases including the Mysore Resort case to oppose Chandrashekaraiah’s appointment as Upa Lokayukta. And as usual, there is the charge that Chandrashekaraiah too had procured a big site in the judicial employees Housing Society layout, the same issue that saw the resignation of previous Lokayukta Shivaraj Patil.
However, in the case of Chandrashekaraiah, it is more a legal issue than moral. If the 'site' issue has to be the deciding factor, then the first Upa Lokayukta Majage too has to resign as he too has procured a site from the Judicial Society. Interestingly, nobody has raised Majage's site issue since the moment he assumed the charge as the Upa Lokayukta. But, definitely Chandrashekaraiah will question the 'silence' of critics over this issue.
Besides, Chandrashekaraiah’s appointment is also opposed by few on Caste lines. But, whatsoever, Chandrashekaraiah has already made it clear that he is a hard nut to crack. One can be sure of Chandrashekaraiah not resigning on his own and one does not foresee his removal by the government through impeachment, either. Then, let the Upa Lokayukta come into action and fight the graft now.
That is all.
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