A case will be filed against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the land scam case. Karnataka High Court Justice M. Nagprasanna said on Tuesday- 'It is necessary to investigate the matters mentioned in the petition. The Chief Minister's family is involved in this case, so the application is dismissed.
On 16 August, Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot approved the prosecution of Siddaramaiah under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Indian Civil Security Code (BNSS), 2023. The CM challenged this in the High Court on August 19.
A complaint has been filed against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife, son-in-law and some officials in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam. Activist T.J. Abraham, Pradeep and Snehmoyi Krishna allege that the Chief Minister connived with MUDA officials to acquire expensive properties by fraud.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi on behalf of Siddaramaiah and Prof. Ravivarma Kumar appeared. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was present on behalf of the Governor. Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty presented his arguments on behalf of the state government. Maninder Singh, Prabhlinga K. Navadgi, Lakshmi Iyengar, Ranganath Reddy, K.G. Raghavan and others presented arguments on behalf of the complainants.
Karnataka Governor's Secretariat has issued a notice to take action against Siddaramaiah.
What is a MUDA case?
In 1992, the urban development body Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) took some land from farmers to develop it into a residential area. In return under MUDA's incentive 50:50 scheme the acquired land owners were given 50% site in developed land or alternative Site.
In 1992, MUDA de-notified this land and separated it from agricultural land. In 1998, MUDA denotified part of the acquired land and returned it to the farmers. That means once again this land became agricultural land.
MUDA scam related to 3 acres of land
In fact, Siddaramaiah's wife Parvati owned 3 acres and 16 guntas of land in Kesare village in Mysore district. The land was gifted to Parvathy's brother Mallikarjuna in 2010. MUDA developed the Devanur Stage 3 layout without acquiring this land.
However, in exchange for this land, in 2022 the Basavaraj Bomai government gave 14 sites to Parvati in the posh area of South Mysore. Their total area under 50:50 ratio scheme was 38,283 sq.ft.
BJP and JDS held a seven-day march from Bengaluru to Mysore from August 3 over the MUDA scam. JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy and Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra also participated.
What is the charge against Siddaramaiah?
- The Vijayanagar plot that Siddaramaiah's wife received as compensation from MUDA is worth much more than their land in Kesare village.
- Snemayi Krishna filed a complaint against Siddaramaiah. In this he has accused Siddaramaiah of forging documents to claim the MUDA site as family property.
- From 1998 to 2023, Siddaramaiah held influential positions as Deputy CM or CM in Karnataka. Although he was not directly involved in the scandal, he used his power to help those close to him.
- Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathy's brother Mallikarjun had illegally bought 3 acres of denotified land in 2004. In 2004–05, Siddaramaiah was the Deputy CM in the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka.
- Under the scheme, the land of the landowners is acquired by the MUDA. They have been allotted alternative posts of higher value as compensation. Apart from this, real estate agents have also been given land under this scheme.
- The land allotment scam was exposed by an RTI activist, who said that over 6,000 sites have been allotted under the 50:50 scheme in the last four years.
- BJP MP and Spokesperson Sambit Patra said that this is a scam of 3 thousand to 4 thousand crore rupees. This includes Siddaramaiah's family. Congress is keeping silent on this. Thanks to the Governor who has ordered an inquiry.
Demand for investigation into the scam
On July 5, 2024, activist Kurubara Shanthakumar wrote a letter to the Governor stating that the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore had written 17 letters to MUDA between February 8, 2023 and November 9, 2023. On 27 November, a letter was written to the Urban Development Authority, Government of Karnataka to investigate the 50:50 ratio scam and to the MUDA Commissioner. Regardless, the MUDA Commissioner allocated thousands of sites.
Siddaramaiah said- wife got land in BJP government
On the allegations, Siddaramaiah said- In 2014, when I was the CM, the wife applied for compensation. I told my wife not to apply for compensation as long as I am Chief Minister. In 2020-21 when BJP was in government, the wife was allotted compensation land. BJP is trying to make false allegations against me.
Opposition parties staged a demonstration at the Vidhan Sabha over the Muda scam.
BJP said – CM should resign, Deputy CM said – there is no question of resignation
Karnataka BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra: BJP is constantly fighting against the corrupt Congress government. He said, BJP is plotting a political conspiracy against us. The High Court in its decision has clearly said that the decision taken by the Governor is correct. Accepting this decision, the Chief Minister should resign immediately.
Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar: There is no question of the Chief Minister's resignation. He has done nothing wrong. He is not involved in any scam. This is a political conspiracy of BJP. We stand with them, we support them. He is doing good work for country, party and state.
The Minister of Karnataka said – We will appeal to the Double Bench or the Supreme Court
Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, We have faith in the law. We will fight it. We will appeal the decision to the Double Bench, another bench and the Supreme Court. We stand with the Chief Minister.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
