New Delhi:
The Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed the Enforcement Directorate’s summons to BM Parvathi, the wife of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, both whom are key accused in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority, or MUDA, land scam case. A single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna also struck down summons to Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh, whom the ED wanted to question.
The agency is probing money laundering allegations tied to the alleged MUDA land scam.
In January the court had stayed the summons. Ms Parvathi had argued the ED was trying to probe an issue – i.e., alleged irregularities over land allotment – already being investigated.
The ED’s counter was that Ms Parvathi was the second accused in the original case – the MUDA land scam case – after the Chief Minister, and that she may have received proceeds of crime.
READ | ‘No Evidence Against Siddaramaiah In MUDA Case’: Lokayukta
The original inquiries were led by the Karnataka branch of anti-corruption watchdog Lokayukta, which last month said there is a “lack of evidence to conduct an investigation” against the Chief Minister and his wife, and noted also the complaint seemed “unsuitable for criminal charges”.
MUDA Land Scam Case
The MUDA land scam broke last year after anti-corruption activists claimed that compensatory land allotments by MUDA between 2016 and 2024 – specifically 14 plots in a posh Mysuru neighbourhood to Ms Parvathi – exceeded the value of land taken up by the agency.
The complaints named the Chief Minister and his wife, as well as his son S Yathindra and senior MUDA officials. In the ensuing fallout, the land body’s chief, K Mari Gowda, who is known to be close to Siddaramaiah, stepped down. He said he had been “instructed” to do so.
All of this allegedly cost the state finances Rs 45 crore.
Ms Parvathi had earlier offered to surrender the parcels of land in question, an act from which Siddaramaiah distanced itself. MUDA took back the land but the investigation continued.
The Chief Minister has repeatedly denied any impropriety in these or any related transactions, claiming the 14 plots of land allotted to his wife were, in fact, gifts from her brother.
READ | “In 40 Years Did Nothing Wrong”: Under-Fire Siddaramaiah On MUDA Case
“I will fight. I am not afraid of anything,” he had said, insisting he would not resign as there was no conviction in any case. 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.
BJP vs Congress Over Clean Chit
The Lokayukta’s ‘clean chit’ triggered a fresh political row between the ruling Congress and the opposition – the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular), a former Congress ally. The BJP expressed faith in the anti-corruption body, but said it was being hampered by the Congress’ interference.
READ | BJP Questions Siddaramaiah’s Lokayukta Clean Chit, Congress Says…
The Congress, however, hit out at the BJP and accused it of being okay with the Lokayukta’s orders or rulings as okay so long as they were in its favour.
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