Will Yeddy keep Hegde aboard?

After R K Datta was rewarded with a plum posting for supposedly not filing an FIR against the CM, the next point of curiosity in Yeddyurappa's office is whether Hegde accused of soft peddling on corruption charges against the BJP govt will get a term extension

Will Yeddy keep Hegde aboard?

While Lokayukta Santhosh Hegde is due for retirement in August, the question haunting the corridors of power is whether he'll get a term extension as a goodwill gesture fromu00a0 B S Yeddyurappa.

Lokayukta Santosh Hegde said he won't accept a term extension even if the government makes an offer

Somewhere beneath the uncertainty of the answer, the fact remains that the changed equation between Hegde and the BJP ruled government tends to prompt a favourable outcome for him.

While his integrity has never come under scrutiny so far, he is of late accused of soft peddling on the corruption charges against the government, particularly in cases against the CM.

Changed equation
Hegde was seen as a merciless corruption watchdog till he took up Belekere iron ore theft case in June last year.
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It was here that he went all out to corner the government, which prompted members of the ruling party to even call him 'a proxy opposition leader'. However, the dramatic developments that occurred thereafter drastically changed his reputation.

Hegde had offered to resign protesting the government's overtures to protecting corrupt officials and punishing the honest in the ore theft case.

He however, backtracked timidly after BJP leader L K Advani spoke to him. He maintained that he was withdrawing his resignation because 'Advani was a father figure.'

Going soft
Hackles were raised, when the Lokayukta chose not to arrest former IT minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, an accused in the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) land scam even after he was figured in the FIR.

In addition, the Lokayukta police did not file an FIR against Yeddyurappa, the prime accused in the land de-notification case, after the Lokayukta Special Court ordered an enquiry by them, citing legal issues.

While Naidu escaped a jail term because of a generous stand taken by the Lokayukta, the CM got a political breather by not being named in the FIR; lest Yeddyurappa would have been required to step down.

Now the question of extending the term of the Lokayukta is lingering even before the procedure for appointing Lokayukta is started.

'Won't accept'
However, Hegde is taking pains to clarify that he is not interested in continuing as the Lokayukta. "In the first place, the law won't allow the extension. Even if the government wants to amend the law in order to give me a term extension, I won't accept," he said.

A senior officer in Lokayukta said the law was silent on the extending the term of the Lokayukta, and it would not lead to legal complications, if the government wanted it.

"The law only says the Lokayukta cannot take up any employment of office for profit under government after his retirement.

But it does not say he is not eligible for a term extension. It will be good, if Hegde continues for another term," he added.

Contenders
Official procedure is yet to start for the appointment of the Lokayukta, while term extension raises a question. But this has not stopped aspirants from nursing their dream. R K Bannurmatt, a retired chief justice of Kerala High Court, and R V Ravindran are the main contenders.