K'taka Lokayukta snubs Law Minister;Moily apologies to Hegde

Bangalore, Mar 21: Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily's statement on Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde raised nationwide controversy. Snubbing Moily's statement, Hegde claimed that he did not need a 'certificate' from Moily on the works done by him (Hegde). However, Moily claimed that he (Moily) had been "misquoted" and sent a letter with apology to Hegde.

Earlier, it was reported that the Congress leader Moily said, "What has Justice Hegde done so far apart from making mere statements." Media reports also quoted Moily as stated, Justice Hegde should have acted against every corrupt case with an iron hand.

Reacting strongly against Moily's statement, Hegde, who is highly regarded in the state for his crusade against corruption, stated, "I don't need a certificate from Veerappa Moily. It is enough if I get a certificate from the people of Karnataka."

Reminding Moily's stand-still situation during JMM scam, Hegde stated, "I think he may have forgotten that it was I who argued for him and got him out of the JMM scam (payoffs case) in a Delhi court when he was the chief minister without charging a fee of one rupee."

Moily was one of the accused in the Rs 3.5 crore Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MPs bribery case in which money was allegedly paid to JMM Lok Sabha members to buy their support to the PV Narasimha Rao government in 1993 when it faced a no confidence motion.

However, Moliy send a letter to Hegde where Moily stated, "I strongly feel that such an isolated statement should not spoil our relationship. I feel the statement appearing in the press has strongly hurt you. I am extremely sorry for it and one such misquoted statement should not strain our relationship."

OneIndia News