The Lokayukta’s clean chit to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA land scam has triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP alleging that the state government handpicked the officers investigating the case and the Congress hitting back and saying that the issue was politically motivated.

The Lokayukta on Thursday submitted an 11,000-page closure report to the Special Court for MLAs and MPs in Bengaluru in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case against Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjunswamy and landowner J Devaraju. The allegation is that Siddaramaiah’s wife was allotted 14 sites in Vijayanagar Layout, an upmarket area in Mysuru, as compensation for the use of 3.16 acres of land in Kesare village near the city. An anti-corruption activist had complained that this had caused a loss of Rs 45 crore to the state.

Siddaramaiah has maintained that there was no wrongdoing in the transactions, asserting that the plots were gifted to his wife by her brother. 

Writing to one of the complainants, the Lokayukta had said on Wednesday that there was not enough evidence to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah and the charges seemed civil in nature and not “suitable for criminal charges”.

The BJP has said it has faith in the Lokayukta but insisted that the investigation was not conducted properly. 

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said, “We have full confidence in the Lokayukta, whereas the police officers who have investigated have been transferred, appointed, given postings by the same Siddaramaiah. We cannot expect a fair inquiry and this is an eyewash. If Siddaramaiah wants to come clean, he should hand over the case to the CBI, otherwise a high court-monitored investigation should be done.”

The Congress, however, hit out at the BJP and accused it of being okay with Lokayukta orders or rulings as long as they were in its favour.

“I had said in the beginning itself, when BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) did their padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru, that it (allegation) is politically motivated. His (Siddaramaiah) signature was not there, he had nothing to do with it. His family had lost the property and had asked for a claim, everyone does that whether it is me or you, and he was given (alternative sites). There was no demand for allotment in a specific place,” Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 

“There should be evidence to file any case, but in this case there was no evidence. Lokayukta have done their duty, if they (complainants) have any objections, let them fight (legally)… Lokayukta is not just the police, it is an independent body, the Chief Minister has no control over it. If any official has to be appointed to the body, it is only after taking the approval of the Lokayukta,” he added. 
 

Bengaluru:

Lokayukta sleuths on Thursday conducted raids at 56 places across the state and found that 11 government officers and engineers had amassed assets worth Rs 45.14 crore that are disproportionate to their known sources of income, the office of the Lokayukta said.

In an early morning operation, about 100 officials carried out simultaneous raids in nine districts against government officers who allegedly accumulated disproportionate assets (DA).

The superintendents of the districts supervised the raids and carried out searches in 56 locations.

The officers who were raided include Assistant Executive Engineer in Panchayat Raj Engineering Department in Belagavi, D Mahadev Bannur; Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited Executive Engineer DH Umesh; Assistant Executive Engineer at BESCOM Vigilance Police Station in Davangere, MS Prabhakar; Belagavi Nirmiti Kendra Project Director Shekhar Gouda Kuradgi; Retired PWD Chief Engineer M Ravindra; and PWD Chief Engineer KG Jagadeesh, a statement issued by the Lokayukta said.

The other officers are retired Executive Engineer of the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Mandya, S Shivaraju; Harohalli Tahsildar in Ramanagara. Vijayanna; Superintending Engineer in Irrigation Department, Mahesh K; Panchayat secretary N M Jagadeesh; and Mahadevapura Revenue Officer Division of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Basavaraj Magi.

According to the Lokayukta office, Shekhar Gouda Kuradgi was found to be in possession of the highest amount of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income — worth Rs 7.88 crore — among those raided on Thursday.

Officers found having DA above Rs 5 crore are Umesh, Ravindra, KG Jagadeesh and Shivaraju, it added.

In all, the 11 officers were found to be in possession of Rs 45.14 crore worth DA, the statement said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)