MUDA case: Karnataka High Court seeks response of CM Siddaramaiah to plea for CBI probe

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday sought the response of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to a plea seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam [Snehamayi Krishna v. Union of India and ors]..A Division Bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind issued notice to the CBI, Central government, Karnataka government and Siddaramaiah on an appeal challenging a single judge's refusal to transfer the probe to CBI. The Court has also issued notice to Siddaramaiah's wife BM Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and one, Devaraju, among other respondents.The MUDA case involves allegations that Siddaramaiah misused his official position to enable irregular allotment of certain land to his wife, BM Parvathi. Activist Snehamayi Krishnan filed a complaint in this matter. The Governor of Karnataka granted sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah in the case in July 2024. The case is presently being probed by the Karnataka Lok Ayukta police. However, representing Krishnan, Senior Advocate KG Raghavan argued yesterday that the Lok Ayukta police cannot be expected to conduct a fair investigation in the matter. "The direction that we sought before the learned single judge was that the matter should be left to the Central Bureau of Investigation and not be left in the hands of the investigation wing of the Lokayuktha because according to us, the investigation wing of the Lokayuktha is subject to the overall superintendence of the government, which is headed by the person against whom the accusation is made, namely the Chief Minister of the State," Raghavan said..The hearing yesterday further saw a brief exchange between the Bar and the Bench about how the maintainability of cases is often determined to some extent, even before the matter reaches judges of the High Court. Referring to office objections raised by the Court's registry, Chief Justice Anjaria remarked,"It is annoying that the office is judging about maintainability, though not in this matter. (It is as if) our jurisdiction is taken away.""Exactly, and in fact, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has now taken the view that every writ petition is maintainable, whether it is entertainable is a different issue," Raghavan replied."Here, the maintainability is part of office objections. It is not comprehensible, at least for me," Chief Justice Anjaria further said.He added, in a lighter vein,"Maintainability is often in the hands of lawyers also. If they argue well, we entertain.. this is all in lighter vein."The matter will be heard next on April 28..The case concerns allegations of corruption in the grant of land by the MUDA to Siddaramaiah's wife, Parvathi.As per the complaint, Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi was ‘gifted’ a land plot measuring a little over three acres by her brother Mallikarjuna Swamy. The land was initially acquired, then de-notified, and bought by Swamy. It was then developed by MUDA, even though private individuals owned it.Swamy claimed that he bought the land in 2004 and gifted it to his sister. However, since the land was illegally developed by MUDA, Parvathi sought compensation. She allegedly received highly inflated compensation, including 14 developed alternate plots of land that were much higher in value than the original three acres, under a 50:50 scheme..The case was entrusted for investigation to the Lok Ayukta police. However, the complainant, Snehamayi Krishnan, moved a plea before the High Court seeking a CBI probe in the matter. In February this year, single-judge Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed this plea, reasoning that the Lok Ayukta does not suffer from any questionable independence for the matter to be transferred to the CBI. This single-judge ruling has now been challenged before the Division Bench by Snehamayi Krishnan. Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah also challenged the Governor's decision to sanction prosecution against him (Siddaramaiah) before the High Court. However, Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed this plea on September 24, 2024. An appeal challenging this ruling is pending before a Division Bench of the High Court, which is slated to be heard next on April 28. .Notably, the Lok Ayukta police had earlier filed a closure report in the MUDA case, thereby giving a clean chit to Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi and brother-in-law BM Mallikarjuna Swamy. The Lok Ayuktha cited a lack of evidence. Snehamayi Krishnan as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have challenged this move before a special court in Bengaluru. On April 15, the special court deferred its verdict on whether to accept the closure report after noting that the Lok Ayukta itself indicated that it wants to further investigate the case. The special court added that it would decide on whether to accept the closure report after the Lok Ayukta files its final report.