BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday gave verbal sanction to the Anti Corruption Bureau ACB ) to investigate a criminal complaint against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act over a diamond-encrusted Hublot watch that was reportedly gifted to him.Siddaramaiah has had to defend himself to his party High Command over the Hublot watch that he used to wear, as well as over the creation of the ACB about 20 days ago. The ACB, which works under the supervision of the department of administrative and personnel reforms (DPAR) headed by the CM himself, is seen as an attempt to shield corruption and to defang the powerful institution of the Karnataka Lokayukta, which was investigating corruption complaints till now.The first complaint filed with the ACB, however, has been against the CM himself. Advocate S Nataraj Sharma has sought a criminal investigation into the antecedents of the Hublot watch. "No one gifts a Rs 70 lakh watch without getting something in return. I want an investigation to find out what this is. The CM has said that the ACB is powerful and that the Tamil Nadu CM was arrested by their ACB. I want to test whether what he is saying is true," Sharma, who filed the complaint on Saturday, told ET.As per the executive order that formed the ACB, sanction of the appointing authority of the accused has to be taken before any criminal complaint can be investigated under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It is not clear whether the appointing authority for the CM would be himself or the Governor, but it is perceived to be the former.In line with this, Siddaramaiah said on Sunday: "Let the inquiry happen. They said even a complaint cannot be filed against the CM by the ACB. Now the complaint is filed. They also have all the powers to investigate the CM."Sharma said he welcomed this statement by the CM. "However, I am still waiting for an FIR to be registered based on my complaint. ACB officials said this will happen only after a preliminary inquiry that will take 15 days. If the CM is innocent, let him prove it through an impartial inquiry."Political analyst Sandeep Shastri called the move by Siddaramaiah to clear investigation against himself a "bold recover operation to snuff out criticism over the setting up of the ACB." However, he felt that the blemish of corruption was not an easy one to shed, particularly because Siddaramaiah and the Congress government came to power on an anti-corruption plank.Former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde said any investigation ordered by the CM against himself would be seen only as "bogus." He felt that there has to be another authority, like the cabinet, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly or the Governor, who has to accord legal sanction, if the investigation is to be taken seriously.