Lokayukta police summons Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah for questioning on November 6
On Monday, the Lokayukta police summoned Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to appear for questioning on November 6 regarding the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (Muda) site allotment case.
On October 25, Parvathi BM, the wife of Siddaramaiah, was interrogated. Siddaramaiah, Parvathi, Mallikarjuna Swamy, and Devaraju are all mentioned in the FIR filed by the Mysuru Lokayukta police on September 27. Swamy bought a plot which he later gifted to Parvathi.
The Lokayukta is still investigating to get more information about the suspected irregularities in the case.
Siddaramaiah and his family have denied any wrongdoing, as he insists that the Opposition is simply afraid of him and this is the first “political case” brought against him.
Former Muda Commissioner DB Natesh was placed under arrest on October 29 following an interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the money laundering investigation.
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The Muda Scam
The Muda site allotment case includes accusations of corruption against Siddaramaiah. It is alleged that his wife, Parvathi, was given 14 plots in a prominent Mysuru area that were valued much higher than the land obtained by Muda.
The Muda allotted plots to Parvathi in a 50:50 ratio as compensation for 3.16 acres of her land, which was used to create a housing area. In the plan, Muda gave 50 per cent of the developed land to the land owners instead of the undeveloped land that was taken from them for creating residential areas. Parvathi is said to have no legal ownership of this 3.16-acre land.
The Karnataka High Court in September upheld the sanction granted by the Governor under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) to investigate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Muda case.
Nonetheless, the court rejected the penalty for prosecution under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot approved three activists to file corruption case against Siddaramaiah for a piece of land in Vijayanagar that Muda granted to his wife Parvathi.
