Bangalore, June 25 (IANS) From a university hockey player to crusader against corruption, N. Santosh Hegde, who quit as the Karnataka Lok Ayukta (ombudsman) Wednesday, has had an eventful journey.
Son of former Supreme Court judge K.S. Hegde, who quit the post in 1973 when his seniority was ignored and a judge junior to him was made the chief justice of India, Santosh Hegde was born in Nitte village in coastal Karnataka June 16, 1940.
He graduated in law in 1965 though his first love was medicine. He started practicising in 1966. He was the Advocate General of Karnataka for four years from 1984.
Hegde was the Additional Solicitor General of India between December 1989 and November 1990. He became the Solicitor General of India April 25, 1998 and a judge of the Supreme Court Jan 8, 1999.
On retirement in June 2005, he became the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal head and held the position till Aug 2, 2006. He was appointed the Karnataka Lok Ayukta Aug 3 for a term for five years.
B.S. Yeddyurappa: Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader and its first chief minister in Karnataka (and south India) since May 2006.
Issue triggering resignation: More than 500,000 tonnes of iron ore seized by forest officials in February this year were found missing, apparently exported by 10 companies with forged documents. The raiding party had also seized 40 gunny bags full of forged documents to help export ore illegally causing massive revenue loss.
The disappearance of the seized ore, exported from Belekeri port in Karwar in Uttara Kannada district, about 520 km from Bangalore, became public early this month.
J. Krishna Plemar: Minister for Environment, Ports and Fisheries, writes a letter to the chief minister seeking suspension of the deputy conservator for forests, R. Gokul, who seized the ore on order from Lok Ayukta. Reason given by Palemar is that Gokul did not attend a meeting called by him to discuss how the ore went missing.
Hegde comes to know of the letter June 21. Gokul approaches him for help to ensure he is not suspended. Hegde pleads helplessness and quits Wednesday.
Yeddyurappa denies Gokul has been suspended. Palemar says he did not seek Gokul’s suspension because he seized the ore but for failing to attend the meeting.
Lok Ayukta history: Set up in 1986, it became highly active under Hegde’s predecessor N. Venkatachala who held the office 2001-06. Unlike Venkatachala, who at times led the raid and went on inspection of government offices and hospitals, Hegde left the job to his officials but held press conferences to give details what the raids found.
Corruption: Widespread. Highly publicized raids conducted by Hegde and Venkatachala, also a retired Supreme Court judge, have shown officials owning property, jewellery, vehicles hugely disproportionate to their known sources of income.
Since he took over in 2006, there were over 200 raids revealing the raided officials together had 65 million cash and property worth Rs. 3.2 billion in excess of their known source of income.
Mining lobby: Powerful, with politicians from all parties involved in iron ore mining in the ore-rich Bellary, one of the most backward districts in the state but which boasts of latest SUVs, choppers and massive mansions owned by mining barons.
Hegde submitted nearly a year back a voluminous report on illegal mining in Bellary, though he has not named the powerful Reddy brothers, who are ministers in the Yeddyurappa government. He is unhappy the government has not taken any action on it.
