Kumar Siddhartha, Pune
Activist Snehamayi Krishna, one of the complainants in the MUDA scam case, approached the Enforcement Directorate on September 29 and filed a complaint against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, alleging corruption and irregularities involving MUDA.
Earlier, Krishna had gone to Karnataka High Court seeking a CBI probe in the matter. According to her, as the Karnataka Lokayukta conducts its investigations under the state’s jurisdiction and its head too is the Chief Minister, the case should be probed by some central agency.
In the same connection, Lokayukta Police have filed an FIR against CM Siddaramaiah and several others, including wife and brother-in-law, charging him in connection with alleged illegal allotment by the MUDA. The FIR filed by the Mysuru Lokayukta quotes several sections of Indian Penal Code, which include 351, 420, 340, 09, and 120B.
These charges center around the illegal allotment of land. There is mention of Siddaramaiah and his family members being among the accused in the FIR.
The legal action came as a result of an order passed by the special court in Bengaluru to investigate allegations that MUDA had, in violation of rules, plots in Mysuru, worth ₹56 crore, were allegedly allocated to Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi. The case has escalated political tensions in Karnataka and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is demanding the Chief Minister’s resignation.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai called for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s resignation so that the investigation could be carried out independently. As a CM, Bommai reasoned that an impartial probe into this would be tough to establish until and unless Siddaramaiah is in the position of power since the Chief Minister is holding the bars on key appointments like police and Lokayukta. For him, only Siddaramaiah’s resignation can give Lokayukta the independence in order to carry out the full-length investigation.
“To have a fair inquiry, with this background, present government should resigning from his CM post, for Lokayukta should be given a free hand,” Bommai added
It is alleged that MUDA wrongfully allotted 14 plots of land in a prime area in Mysuru city to the wife of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.