Blow to Siddaramaiah, court upholds Governor’s nod to probe him for land ‘scam’

The Karnataka High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, challenging the legality of the Governor’s decision to prosecute him over alleged irregularities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam case.
A bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed Siddaramaiah’s plea challenging the sanction granted by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot to three people to file corruption cases against the Chief Minister over the land that MUDA granted to his wife BM Parvathi.
The High Court said that the Governor can take independent decisions and that the prosecution approval “does not suffer from non-application of mind by the Governor”.
The bench stressed that the facts narrated in the plea needed investigation before dismissing it.
The sanction was granted in July following complaints by three activists — TJ Abraham, Snehamai Krishna and Pradeep Kumar SP — against Siddaramaiah in the MUDA case.
The case pertains to allegations that compensatory sites were allotted to BM Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru that had higher property value as compared to the location of her land that had been “acquired” by MUDA. MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
The Karnataka High Court on September 12 completed its hearing on Siddaramaiah’s petition challenging the legality of Governor Gehlot’s approval for an investigation against him in the MUDA site allotment case and reserved its orders.
On August 19, Siddaramaiah moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the legality of the Governor’s order. On August 16, the Governor accorded sanction for an investigation against Siddaramaiah in connection with a MUDA site allotment case.
The controversy centres around the allotment of 14 premium sites in Mysuru to Siddaramaiah’s wife, BM Parvathi, as compensation for land acquired by the government. Social activists and the BJP have alleged that this allotment was unlawful and resulted in a significant loss to the state treasury.
The land in question is a 3.16-acre parcel in Kesare village, which was originally owned by another party. It was allegedly transferred to Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law, Mallikarjuna Swamy Devaraj, in 2005, though it was recorded as having been purchased in 1998. Activists claim that Mallikarjuna Swamy acquired the land illegally in 2004 using forged documents with the aid of government officials.
In 2014, during Siddaramaiah’s previous tenure as Chief Minister, his wife applied for compensation under MUDA’s 50:50 scheme, which provides 50 per cent developed land to those who lose undeveloped acquired land. The compensation was granted in the form of 14 alternative sites in a prime location in Mysuru.
Siddaramaiah has defended himself by stating that the land for which his wife received compensation was a gift from her brother in 1998 and that the compensation was granted during BJP’s rule, and called the allegations politically motivated.
The BJP has demanded Siddaramaiah’s resignation and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.