Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 19: The Anti-corruption watchdog Lokayukta has given a clean chit to the Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, his wife and others in the alleged illegal land acquisition in Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case
It said there was no evidence against Karnataka CM a week after a final report was submitted to its headquarters in Bengaluru for scrutiny. The report was submitted after an extensive investigation into MUDA site allotment case involving CM Siddaramaiah and his family. The Lokayukta said there is no material to prove charges against Siddaramaiah and the other accused. The Lokayukta also said the charges against Siddaramaiah and the accused seemed “civil in nature and not suitable for criminal charges.”
In a notice to the complainant – Snehamayi Krishna, one of the three anti-corruption activists who wrote last year to Governor Thawarchand Gehlot, seeking Siddaramaiah’s prosecution – the Lokayukta said there is no material to prove charges against the Chief Minister and the other accused – his wife, BM Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and Devaraju, who owned the plots in question.
“Since allegations against Accused No 1 (Siddaramaiah) to Accused No 4 have not been proven due to lack of evidence, the final report is being submitted to the High Court,” the Lokayukta told Krishna. Krishna has been given a week to respond, after which the Lokayukta will submit a final report.
However, compensatory land allotments by MUDA between 2016 and 2024 – including those to Siddaramaiah’s wife, BM Parvathi, which are at the heart of the controversy – will remain “under scrutiny”, and a supplementary report will be given to the court. The MUDA land scam pertains to allotment of land to Siddaramaiah’s wife. Anti-corruption activists had alleged irregularities in the process – the grant of plots in a posh neighbourhood in Mysuru in exchange for land on the outskirts – cost the state Rs 45 crore.
They wrote to the Governor, in accordance with the law, to file a case against the Chief Minister. That request was approved, but the Governor’s nod was swiftly challenged in the Karnataka High Court. Siddaramaiah argued the order for his prosecution was illegal since the Governor could not take that step without the state government’s approval.
However, in September the court rejected the challenge and upheld the Governor’s order. The case against Siddaramaiah was filed 24 hours later. The Chief Minister has repeatedly denied any impropriety in these transactions, claiming the 14 plots of land allotted to his wife were, in fact, gifts from her brother.
These complaints named the Chief Minister and his wife, as well as his son S Yathindra and senior officials from the urban development body. In the ensuing fallout, MUDA chief K Mari Gowda, who is known to be close to Siddaramaiah, stepped down, saying he had been “instructed” to do so.
This was after the Chief Minister’s wife offered to surrender the parcels of land in question, and MUDA agreed to re-take possession on condition it would not affect the course of the investigation.
The clean chit, although not confirmed yet, for Siddaramaiah will be seen as a massive political win for the ruling Congress, which came under heavy fire from the BJP after the allegations broke out. The BJP and the JDU, a former Congress ally now with the saffron party, had demanded Siddaramaiah resign and called on the Central Bureau of Investigation to take up the case.
Any CBI action, though, was pre-empted by the state withdrawing general consent on grounds it was “biased” for the federal agency to act on its territory, a move criticised by the opposition. Siddaramaiah had then refused to resign, pointing out the investigation into charges against him had uncovered nothing and he had not yet been convicted of any crime. “I will fight. I am not afraid of anything. We are ready to face the investigation. I will fight this legally,” he had said after the Karnataka High Court had quashed his challenge to the Governor’s sanction.
The investigation into the MUDA case was launched in September 2024 following a directive from a special court for elected representatives in Bengaluru and was led by Mysuru Lokayukta superintendent of police TJ Udesh.
The special court directed an FIR against Siddaramaiah and three others on September 27 last year, based on a petition by social activist Snehamayi Krishna as state governor Thawarchand Gehlot gave the nod for Siddaramaiah to be investigated. Investigation in the case covers alleged violations under IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act and Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act,
