Karwar: Usha Hegde, President of the Sirsi Gramin BJP unit and former General Secretary of the Uttara Kannada district BJP, has been sentenced to one year of imprisonment and fined ₹5,000 by the Lokayukta court in Karwar. The verdict was delivered by Principal District and Sessions Judge Vijayakumar in connection with a corruption case.
Before being elected as a Zilla Panchayat member, Usha Hegde worked as an Anganwadi worker at Srinagar Panchayat. Despite becoming a People’s Representative, she continued to hold the Anganwadi post and drew an honorarium of ₹88,630 from January 2011 to November 2012, which was considered a violation of government rules.
The court found Hegde guilty of committing offenses punishable under Section 468 of the Indian Penal Code, including creating false documents and falsifying attendance records. Ibrahim Nabisab filed the complaint, and LM Prabhu argued the case for the Lokayukta.
The court ruled that Hegde violated orders from the Department of Women and Child Development and directives from the Dharwad High Court mobile bench by failing to resign from one of the posts.
This ruling underscores the importance of transparency and accountability in public office.
