Udupi, Dec 29, 2016: Former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde has defended the demonetization move of the Union Government .
Replying to questions from media men here, Justice Hegde said though several governments of the past had mulled demonetization, none showed the courage to implement it. Pointing out that the poor and the middle class people have been inconvenienced, Justice Hegde drew attention to the statements of some economists that it was only a temporary inconvenience and that in two years the nation’s GDP will see a progress by 2% to 2.5%.
When asked his reaction to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on demonetization, Justice Hegde said "Many who agreed with demonetization measure, later said the mode of implementation was wrong, now the bame is on the Prime Minister." He also made it clear that he does not belong to any political party.
On Lokayukta, Justice Hegde, said the institution has been weakened with the constitution of ACB. At the same time he said the need of the hour is to have a sincere leader as the new Lokayukta.