Assets: Ayukta may have to toe line

Y.  Maheswara Reddy | NT
Bengaluru, Nov. 10

If all goes according to plan, the Karnataka Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta may be required, by law, to declare their assets and liabilities. Government employees and elected representatives do so mandatorily, the latter to the Lokayukta itself.  On October 27, the Under Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms wrote a letter to the Lokayukta Registrar, seeking his opinion on making such a declaration mandatory for the Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta.
News Trail published an article titled ‘What’s stopping Ayukta from filing asset details’? It questions why these important constitutional functionaries don’t set an example by declaring their assets.  

The Under Secretary’s letter to the Lokayukta Registrar was based on a written request made by former MLC Ramesh Babu on July 12. Babu suggested that the state government amend the Karnataka Lokayukta Act to facilitate the declaration of assets by Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta, on par with elected representatives and other government employees.

“Yes, I wrote a letter on this matter to the state government. I am happy to know that the Under Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms has communicated this to the Lokayukta Registrar,’’ said Babu.

Saying that there is no legal mandate to do so, the Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta have not declared their assets for years. However, social activists say this needs to change. “I have also filed an RTI application seeking information on their assets and liabilities but the Registrar declined to provide it. He said that there is no provision to do so under the Karnataka Lokayukta Act,” says H.M. Venkatesh, a social activist. “I believe that the Lokayukta, who is a retired High Court judge, should not behave like a politician.

He must declare his assets voluntarily.”RTI activist B.R. Veeresh says declaring assets should be mandatory not just for Lokayukta but also for the heads of the State Human Rights Commission, Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and State Information Commission.