Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)

Mangaluru, Apr 6: Amid demands to withdraw the new Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) forme by the state government, district in-charge minister B Ramanath Rai on Wednesday April 6 defended the government's move and said that formation of ACB would in no way affect the Lokayukta and instead would help in speedy disposal of pending cases.

Addressing a press meet here, Rai said, "There have been discussions on formation of Anti-Corruption Bureau in the sate. Karnataka is not the first sate to form ACB - there are 12 which have ACB. The court had directed the government to form a cell in order to control corruption, and accordingly ACB has been formed. We have not touched Lokayukta in any way. Formation of ACB will not curtail any of the powers of Lokayukta.

"There are about 18,000 cases pending with Lokayukta. The formation of ACB will facilitate speedy disposal of these cases. In both Lokayukta and ACB, police are the ones who will investigate the case. States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala and others already have ACB to control corruption. There are many states with both Lokayukta and ACB. So there is no point in curtailing the powers of Lokayukta," he added.

On being asked about allocation of sand blocks, he said, "Another CRZ meeting will be convened shortly, after which meeting all the blocks would be alloted through tender process. The main reason for sand scarcity was the ban issued by the central environment department. Now we have got the clearance, hence the problem would be solved shortly."

Asked why the prime suspect in the murder of RTI activist Vinayaka Baligd had not been arrested yet, Rai said, "I too urge the police to arrest the culprits of Vinayak Baliga soon. It is quite evident that leaders of BJP are directly involved in the murder."