Bengaluru:
Karnataka anti-corruption watchdog Lokayukta said Wednesday it had found no evidence incriminating Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, or his wife, in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority land scam case.
In a notice to the complainant – Snehamayi Krishna, one 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 ex-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, when too he was Chief Minister, and 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 the Chief Minister. That request was approved, but the Governor’s nod was swiftly challenged in the Karnataka High Court.
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 cover.
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 is “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 said after the Karnataka High Court had quashed his challenge to the Governor’s sanction.
With input from agencies
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