By IANS,
Bangalore: Karnataka Lokayukta and member of the joint Lokpal Bill drafting committee, justice N. Santosh Hegde Thursday said he was very hurt by the remarks of Congress leader Digvijay Singh on his not being able to curb corruption in the state and said he would consider resigning from the panel.
“I will be in Delhi on Saturday and I will meet them and then I will take a decision (to quit),” former Supreme Court justice Santosh Hegde told NDTV news channel.
He was reacting to Digvijay Singh’s statement that while Karnataka was said to have the most stringent Lokpal Bill, the Lokayukta had still not been able to curb corruption in the state.
Hegde said that when he heard Singh’s allegation in the afternoon, “I was very, very hurt”.
“This vilification campaign, I thought, will stop somewhere with people in Delhi. Now, it has come down to Bangalore. It is absolutely false allegation made against me and I am a former judge of the Supreme Court, I feel hurt,” he said.
He said there seemed to be contradictory voices coming from the Congress party on the Lokpal panel members. “On one side, government agrees (to Lokpal Bill panel). On the other side, the general secretary of the party started making allegations one after the other. President of the party (Sonia Gandhi) says that I don’t like vilification campaign… but general secretary of the party goes on talking what they like,” said Hegde.
He again reiterated that any allegation that “I’m protecting the chief minister of Karnataka (B.S. Yeddyurappa) from this is absolutely false.” “I was the one who issued notice to him,” he asserted.
“I’m the one who gave the report against the government on mining which has now been accepted by the government. I’m preparing another report. If anybody is saying that I’m protecting this party or that party or the ruling party in Karnataka, I would like to give away and run,” said an emotional Hegde.
“I want to expose the vilification campaign,” Hegde told the channel.
He said he would visit New Delhi to discuss his plans with colleagues on the panel, which was set up after veteran social activist Anna Hazare went on a fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding acceptance of ‘Jan (peoples) Lokpal bill’, drafted by the civil society organisations.
Hazare ended the fast on the fifth day after the central government agreed to set up a 10-member panel – five from civil society and five from government – to draft a new Lokpal Bill.
Hegde was among those who drafted the ‘Jan Lokpal bill’.
Hedge told the channel that he was frustrated with the “smear campaign” against civil society representatives in the ten-member drafting panel.