Will ACB become a caged parrot'?

Bengaluru: With Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rejecting the proposal to attach the newly formed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) with the home ministry, the possibility of the newly constituted ACB becoming a ‘caged parraot’ cannot be ruled out.

On Wednesday, Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police Om Prakash requested the chief minister to attach the Anti-Corruption Bureau with the home ministry.

But the Chief Minister rejected the request and told Mr Prakash that the Anti-Corruption Bureau would be with the department of personnel and administrative reforms (DPAR) “for the time being”. Sources in the government said that since the department of personnel and administrative reforms was with the chief minister, the Anti-Corruption Bureau was attached to the DPAR.

“The home ministry is with Dr G. Parameshwar and Mr Siddaramaiah does not want to give the crucial Anti-Corruption Bureau to Dr Parameshwar, considered his rival in the state Congress. That’s why he brought the Anti-Corruption Bureau under the department of personnel and administrative reforms,” the sources added.

Mr Siddaramaiah had not consulted or involved Dr Parameshwar during the formation of the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The creation of Anti-Corruption Bureau has attracted strong protests from the intelligentsia and public.

Ignoring the protests, the state government went ahead and set up an Anti-Corruption Bureau police station in each  district on Wednesday.

The home department has handed over the services of several IPS and Karnataka service police officers to the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Sources said that the Anti-Corruption Bureau working under the department of personnel and administrative reforms, which will be with the chief minister, will serve as a double-edged sword.

“Whoever becomes chief minister retains the intelligence portfolio. The intelligence wing is used for political surveillance too. Based on the inputs he gets  from the intelligence wing, the chief minister can engage in political vendetta through the Anti-Corruption Bureau against those whom he suspects of working against him. Therefore, this Anti-Corruption Bureau cannot even display half the efficiency of Lokayukta police. The Chief Minister’s camp said that the Lokayukta police used to collect hafta from all departments every month. Officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau at the district level too can misuse the name of the chief minister and collect hafta from government officials,” the sources said.