Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah has received a huge setback in the MUDA land deal case. Siddaramaiah had filed a petition against the Governor’s decision to prosecute. The High Court rejected the petition in this regard.
Siddaramaiah is facing a backlash in the case of irregularities in the allotment of land by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA). The petition against the Governor’s permission to prosecute the case was rejected. Normally the governor has to act according to the decision of the cabinet. But in exceptional circumstances the Governor can decide on his own. The High Court said that this is such a situation. The verdict was delivered by a bench of Justice Nagaprasanna.
Following the plea of Pradeep Kumar, TJ Abraham and Snehamai Krishna, Governor Tawarchand Gehlot had allowed the prosecution to try Siddaramaiah. The Governor authorized the trial under Section 17 and Section 218 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Siddaramaiah’s petition showed that Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot’s action in allowing him to be prosecuted in a land deal in which he was neither a defendant nor a partner was illegal. The governor’s order to prosecute Siddaramaiah was controversial. Siddaramaiah had alleged that the allegations were politically motivated.
Siddaramaiah had claimed that his brother Mallikarjuna gifted the land to his wife in 1998. But activist Krishna alleged that Mallikarjuna acquired it illegally in 2004 and registered it by forging documents with the help of government and revenue officials. Parvathy demanded compensation for this land in 2014 when Siddaramaiah was the chief minister. The BJP held a week-long padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru against the Congress government demanding a CBI probe into the case.
Siddaramaiah’s wife B.M. In July, Abraham had filed a complaint in the Lokayukta alleging that the allotment of land in Mysuru to Parvathy was illegal and caused a loss of Rs 45 crore to the exchequer. The complaint was filed in the names of Siddaramaiah, his wife, son S Yathindra and senior officials of Muda. Another activist, Snehamai Krishna, had also alleged the involvement of Siddaramaiah, his wife, Muda and administrative officials in the land scam.
