Every Monday or Tuesday morning, a white Contessa drives out of an old building on Ambedkar Road near the imposing Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore. The driver is not told his destination. But in a few minutes the two other occupants of the car-state Lok Ayukta Justice N. Venkatachala and Vigilance Officer Syed Riyaz-will confirm the worst fears of most state Government officials: getting caught taking bribes or holding illegal money.

Since July 2001, when the 71-year-old former Supreme Court judge took office as Lok Ayukta, the anti-corruption brigade has received a shot in the arm. Venkatachala has not spared anyone: from road transport inspectors to civic municipal councils (CMCs) around Bangalore to officers in district hospitals in Raichur in north Karnataka.

OPERATION CLEAN-UP

Unearthed a Rs 240-crore scam of excess payments without authorisation in seven municipalities. Officials involved suspended.

On a visit to the remand home at Gadag village, freed 14 children who were allegedly beaten up and confined by government officials.

After raids at taluk offices in Bangalore, seized Rs 50,000 in cash, five mobile phones and documents illegally in the possession of officials.

Listened to Bangalore slum-dwellers' problems with the city's Slum Clearance Board.

Gave cognisance to complaints on Bangalore Corporation's inability to control stray dog menace.

Last week, the Lok Ayukta's team completed hearings into a complaint filed by NGO Stray Dog-Free Bangalore, against Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (bmp or Bangalore City Corporation) for failing to take appropriate steps to control the menace of stray dogs. In some areas of the city, these dogs are such a menace that two-wheeler drivers are afraid to venture out at night. The Lok Ayukta recorded statements from the NGO and the Bangalore municipal commissioner, among others.

In March last year, on a surprise visit to a remand home in Gadag, 300 km from Bangalore, Venkatachala found 14 boys locked up in a room, tortured and deprived of food. The judge took to task the officials of the state's Women and Child Welfare Department, which runs the home, and turned over an employee to the police. In the same month, he unearthed irregularities in the functioning of the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubli.

"From stray dogs to slums to government officials, if I can do something, I will do it to make life better for the people," Venkatachala told India Today. And it seems he has done just that (see box). Bangaloreans are singing paeans to him. Says housewife Monica Sen: "He reminds me of T.N. Seshan." The only difference is that unlike the garrulous former chief election commissioner, Venkatachala does his work quietly, with little fanfare.

Till Venkatachala took over, the ordinary citizen wasn't even aware that the Lok Ayukta had the power to check corruption among public servants. Today, thanks to his efforts, skeletons are tumbling out of virtually every government cupboard. None has been as big as the Rs 240-crore embezzlement he uncovered in the CMCs. For days, Venkatachala conducted surprise raids, checked records, questioned officials-and caught several government employees red-handed, forcing Chief Minister S.M. Krishna to suspend them.

Krishna says he is supportive of the judge's actions and will consider whatever recommendations he made. "We are all working for efficient governance and I will take inputs from all helpful sources."

The Karnataka Lok Ayukta Act, 1984, came into effect on January 15, 1986, bringing all departments of the state government under the scrutiny of the Lok Ayukta. Now the chief minister has more ambitious plans: to bring MLAs under the Lok Ayukta's purview. There has, predictably, been no reaction from either the ruling party or opposition MLAs to the suggestion.

Since he took over, the Lok Ayukta's office has been receiving between 100 and 250 complaints of corrupt practices in the administration every day; up from about 20 received each day before Venkatachala's appointment. Riyaz says, "Awareness about the office is very high. We have put notice boards in all government departments and offices that if there is a delay in work and if someone is expecting a bribe, they must tell us."

The ombudsman has been seeking more powers to act against the corrupt even when no complaint is lodged. The proposal did exist when the draft legislation was proposed during Ramakrishna Hegde's chief ministership in 1984. Says Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Jagadish Shettar: "We all agree that the judge has put the fear of God in the administration. I am personally for arming the act with more teeth but we need to take a collective decision on this."

Says Venkatachala: "I have held open enquiries. Once a person is caught taking money and his case is heard in public, he or she cannot walk with his head held high again. I felt that was enough after ensuring that the money is returned to the citizen." This proved true in Mysore, where the people prevented a surgeon from receiving an award at a public function after he was caught accepting a bribe.

After raiding seven civic municipal councils (CMCs) and a town municipal council (TMC) in and around Bangalore and discovering misuse of funds, the Lok Ayukta has received the audit report on the alleged irregularities in Krishnarajapuram CMC, where nearly Rs 30 crore was misappropriated. Details of the amount sanctioned for various works, the funds utilised, and the involvement of CMC commissioners and officials in the case is being looked into before recommendations are made to the Government.

"We will recover the amount from the guilty. For the first time, the services of a mobile testing laboratory will be utilised to check the quality of roads laid by CMCs and TMCs," says Venkatachala. He has also decided to focus on the accounts of government departments, especially in taluks, to ensure transparency in administration.

Perhaps the only criticism one hears of the Lok Ayukta is the delay in filing chargesheets against senior officials who are facing charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. One that is countered by the explanation that Lok Ayukta officials have to obtain clearance from the authorities that grant sanction orders to prosecute the accused.

Venkatachala has big plans to expand the scope of his anti-corruption crusade, including setting up a website where complaints can be registered online and their status checked, and appointing a superintendent of police in each district to coordinate with the Lok Ayukta. Following the series of inspections by the office, the Revenue Department plans to computerise all sub-registrar offices, a move that is expected to bring down corruption.

The Karnataka Government is getting into the act too. It has set up a high level anti-corruption committee headed by the chief minister and comprising several ministers and secretaries to review the adequacy and effectiveness of the Government's anti-corruption effort.

From raids on remote remand homes to raising the hackles of ministers through his surprise visits to offices and hospitals, the Lok Ayukta is on a roll. "I have the power to ask ministers to do their work," the judge told India Today. "Starting from the chief minister down to the peon, the law permits me to examine any level of the government. My job is to rectify them."

Threats do not seem to worry Venkatachala, who says that he is here for five years, "unless they abolish the Act." On his part, he says he is motivated to doing good to fight corruption. He wants to see that poor and helpless citizens are not harassed by government servants. "After I visit a place, I do instruct the heads to keep in regular touch with me and send me the action taken reports. If it is not done, action will be taken against them."

That's why, when his white Contessa purrs out on its weekly mission, officials wonder whether it's coming their way.