K'taka CM on Lokayukta appointment: Ball in governor's court

Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday indirectly blamed Governor H R Bhardwaj for delay in the appointment of Lokayukta asserting that the government has followed precedents and the ball was in his court.

"The ball is in the court of the governor," Gowda said in the Assembly, where Janata Dal Secular leader H D Revanna sought to move an adjournment motion alleging that government was deliberately adopting delaying tactics in the appointment of Lokayukta.

The governor, however, said on Wednesday Gowda was "responding well to appoint a spotless judge as the new Lokayukta." "I will not take even a minute to ratify the appointment of a judge as Lokayukta if people of the state and the press have faith in him," Bhardwaj told the media but added he was in no hurry to address the issue as he despised bothering the chief minister when the assembly session was underway.

The Lokayukta post is vacant after Justice V Shivaraj Patil quit on September 19 over a land controversy. The government subsequently recommended former Kerala high court Chief Justice S R Bannurmath for the post but his name was not accepted by the governor following reports that he was allotted a site reserved for civic amenities in the judicial layout.

The government has maintained that it has followed procedure and precedents in recommending Bannurmath's name and stuck to its guns, leading to a logjam on the issue.

Gowda said that he met the governor twice on the matter, and categorically denied that the government was adopting delaying tactics.

Certain remarks on the governor by K S Eshwarappa, who is also the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit president -- which were later expunged by Speaker K G Bopaiah -- led to strong protests by opposition members who staged a dharna in the well of the House.