K'taka Guv asks BJP govt to suggest more names for Lokayukta

Bangalore, Nov 14: Virtually disapproving the BJP government's recommendation to appoint retired judge S R Bannurmath as Karnataka Lokayukta, Governor H R Bhardwaj said he has asked Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda to furnish more names to fill the vacant post.

"I have urged the Chief Minister to furnish at least four more names for the appointment of a new Lokayukta," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here two days after citing 'technical defects' for not acting on the government's recommendation. Bhardwaj had said the government did not obtain the consent of the state high court chief justice while recommending the name of Bannurmath.

The post of Lokayukta is lying vacant for the past two months after Justice Shivraj Patil quit following a land controversy, with opinion divided between the government and the opposition on appointing Bannurmath.

Bannurmath, a former Kerala High Court chief justice, is facing allegations of securing allotment of a residential site in judicial layout on a land earmarked for civic amenities. Patil, a former Supreme Court judge who had succeeded Justice Santosh Hegde in August, had quit over allotment of housing sites to him and his wife in violation of rules. The Lokayukta now has only one Upa Lokyukta after R Gururajan. The other Upa Lokayukta resigned last month citing personal reasons.

PTI