Mangaluru : Former Union minister and Senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary has demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah withdraw the order to set up a separate Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), saying it was against the law.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, he said that the manifesto of the Congress had promised to give additional powers to the Lokayukta.

“The State government’s order to constitute ACB, however, will curtail the power of the Lokayukta. After consulting the High Court Chief Justice, the chief minister should revoke the government’s order on constituting ACB and thereby hand over the anti-corruption work to the Lokayukta institution,” he demanded. The Congress leader said that the Lokayukta is an independent institution.

“Without bringing in an amendment to the Lokayukta Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly, one can not curtail the powers of the Lokayukta. Who has given you (chief minister) the power to curtail the powers of the Lokayukta?” he asked.

“There is an advocate general in the State and there are many other advocates and talented lawyers. Had the chief minister collected their opinions before constituting the ACB? Ugrappa, a Congress leader, is a legal expert – did the chief minister seek his opinion in this regard?” Poojary wished to know.

“The entire nation knows that Siddaramaiah is a sincere chief minister. There is no allegation of corruption against him. The Opposition tried to taint his image in the Arkavathi denotification case, which was actually a brainchild of the BJP. In such a scenario why do you want to curtail the power of the Lokayukta?” asked the former minister.

“The Lokayukta institution was strong in Karnataka, and other states had followed the model of Karnataka in setting up the institution of Lokayukta. Why does the Congress want to weaken its power? Bhaskar Rao, along with his son, has already weakened the institution of Lokayukta,” he rued.

“The BJP has no moral right to level allegations against the chief minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had promised of Lokpal Bill has failed to live up to his word. The promise of making the CBI an autonomous body has remained only on paper. The Prime Minister has even failed to act when there were corruption charges against Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje,” Poojary said.