Karnataka High Court notice to CM Siddaramaiah, wife on plea challenging Lokayukta police’s clean chit in MUDA case

The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday ordered the issue of notice to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi B.M. and others on a petition challenging a special court’s order of accepting a clean chit given to them by the Lokayukta police on the allegation of illegalities and corruption in the allotment of 14 alternative sites worth ₹56 crore to Ms. Parvathi by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav passed the order on the petition filed by social activist Snehamayi Krishna, who had lodged a complaint of illegalities and corruption in the allotment of a large number of sites, including the allotment of 14 sites, to Ms. Parvathi by MUDA.

The special court of sessions for criminal cases against former and present MLAs and MPs on January 28 had accepted the ‘B’ report, in which the Lokayukta police had said the allegations of corruption and criminal conspiracy against Mr. Siddaramaiah, Ms. Parvathi, her brother Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju J., from whom Mr. Swamy had purchased around three acres of land on being denotified by MUDA, could not be established in the investigation.

Mr. Krishna’s petition said that the special court committed a jurisdictional error by selectively accepting the ‘B’ report only with respect to four individuals, while simultaneously ordering further investigation into MUDA officials involved in the same transaction.

It has been argued in the petition that the special court’s order is fundamentally inconsistent as it accepts the investigation’s finding that the 50:50 compensatory site allotment scheme caused significant loss to MUDA and the State, including in the allotment of 14 sites to Ms. Parvathi, yet concludes that no offence is made out against the primary beneficiaries.

The petition further asserts that the special court failed to consider crucial materials submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has yet to submit a conclusive report. Mr. Krishna has requested that the High Court direct an independent agency to conduct a fresh investigation.