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Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has approved the prosecution of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with the MUDA land scam following petitions from three activists.
Bengaluru:
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a senior Congress leader, will face prosecution for alleged irregularities in site allocations by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot granted permission for his prosecution after receiving petitions from activists Pradeep Kumar, TJ Abraham, and Snehamayi Krishna.
A letter from the Governor’s Secretariat to the activists stated, “As directed by the Governor, I am enclosing a copy of the decision of the Competent Authority regarding the request for sanction to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Samhitha, 2023, for the alleged offences mentioned in the petitions.”
The BJP welcomed the Governor’s decision to proceed with the prosecution. State BJP chief BY Vijayendra said in an online post, “Siddaramaiah has left no stone unturned to keep records and evidence of corruption against the Congress government and the Chief Minister’s relatives, proving that he is untouchable.”
In response, the Karnataka Congress accused the Governor of delaying action against former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and former Karnataka ministers Sasikala Jolle and Murugesh Nirani. The party alleged that the Governor’s quick action on a “baseless” complaint against Siddaramaiah was politically motivated.
Last month, the Governor issued a “show-cause notice” to the Chief Minister, giving him seven days to respond to the allegations and explain why he should not be prosecuted.
This led to a state cabinet resolution asking the Governor not to approve the prosecution. The Siddaramaiah-led government also urged the Governor to withdraw the notice, accusing him of “gross misuse of the Constitutional Office.”
The Governor’s notice came after anti-corruption activist TJ Abraham filed a petition alleging irregularities in the MUDA. Abraham claimed that the multi-crore scam caused significant losses to the state exchequer.
In a complaint filed with the Lokayukta police in July, Abraham alleged that the allocation of 14 alternative sites in a posh Mysuru neighborhood to Siddaramaiah’s wife BM Parvathi was illegal, causing a loss of ₹45 crores to the exchequer.
The BJP, which has been demanding a CBI probe into the case, organized a weeklong padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru earlier this month in protest against the Congress government.
