The Karnataka government on Wednesday appointed justice (retd) Y Bhaskar Rao, former chief justice of Karnataka high court, as the lokayukta, filling the post vacant for the last 16 months.

Rao, 75, succeeds justice (retd) Shivaraj Patil, who resigned in September 2011 following allegations of irregularities in the allotment of two residential plots to him and his wife in violation of Bangalore Development Authority rules.

Patil's predecessor, justice (retd) N Santosh Hegde, who had launched a movement for appointment of the lokayukta, appreciated the government's decision. The former Supreme Court judge declined to comment on Rao's appointment.

The Advocates Association of Bangalore, however, opposed the appointment. The association's president KN Subba Reddy said Rao, who hails from Srirampur village in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh, would not record statements in Kannada.

Rao, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission, will be sworn in by governor HR Bhardwaj on Thursday.