A Bengaluru special court has adjourned the verdict on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) petition to challenge the Lokayukta’s “B report” in the case relating to MUDA land, accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. No verdict will be given, the court said, till the Lokayukta Police submits the final report. Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat directed the Lokayukta Police to proceed with the inquiry and submit a comprehensive report.
The Lokayukta Police’s earlier “B report” had absolved Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvati, her brother, and the seller of the land from any wrongdoing in the absence of evidence. However, the ED is challenging the finding and issued a notice requesting a deeper inquiry.
Now the Lokayukta is probing over 130 individuals related to the scam. Earlier, the Lokayukta Police had submitted a preliminary report which addressed charges against Siddaramaiah and three others. The court, however, reaffirming that the investigation must not be restricted to the four individuals, ordered a larger-scale investigation into all parties involved in the case. The next hearing will take place on May 7.
The MUDA case pertains to charges of impropriety in the allotment of 14 prime sites in Mysuru to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife by the agency. The accusations are that the market value of the compensatory sites, in a prized area of Mysuru, is far greater than that of the land acquired from her by MUDA. Social activists claim that this allotment has resulted in a loss of ₹45 crore to the state.
In addition to Siddaramaiah and his wife, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju have joined the FIR lodged by the Lokayukta Police on September 27. Devaraju is the one who had sold land to Mallikarjuna Swamy before offering it to Parvati.
