The Lokayukta police on Friday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of sites by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
The FIR names Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjun Swamy, and one Devaraj, from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi, reported news agency PTI.
The move came a day after a special court in Bengaluru ordered the Lokayukta police to probe against Siddaramaiah on accusations of irregularities in allotment of 14 sites worth ₹56 crore to the chief minister’s wife by the Mysuru development authority.
The special court, which handles criminal cases involving former and current MPs/MLAs, directed the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to initiate an investigation based on a complaint filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna.
The court issued directions to take up investigation under section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) (that gives a magistrate the power to order an investigation into a cognisable offense.) It also directed the police to file the investigation report by December 24.”Acting under Sec.156(3) of Code of Criminal Procedure, the jurisdictional police i.e., Superintendent of Police, Karnataka Lokayukta, Mysuru is hereby directed to register the case, investigate and to file a report as contemplated under Sec.173 of Cr.P.C., within a period 3 months from today..” the court had said.
HC’s SETBACK TO KARNATAKA CM
The order came after Karnataka high court upheld Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s sanction to investigate Siddaramaiah in the case.
Delivering the verdict, the single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that the order of the Governor on August 17 approving the investigation and sanction for “prosecution of the Chief Minister in MUDA was not taken in haste”. The court further observed that the complainants were justified in registering the complaint and seeking approval from the Governor.
WHAT IS THE MUDA CASE?
In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in a prime area of Mysuru, which has a higher property value than the location of her land that was “acquired” by MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 scheme in exchange for 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under this controversial scheme, MUDA allocated 50 per cent of the developed land to landowners in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for residential layouts. It is alleged that Parvathi did not have legal title over the 3.16 acres of land located at survey number 464 in Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
However, the Karnataka Chief Minister had rejected the allegations, claiming that the land deal was completed as per mandates and there were no irregularities. He had also dismissed the Opposition’s call for his resignation, which grew louder after the court’s order directing a case against him.
(With inputs from agencies)
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