In a major setback for Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the High Court dismissed his petition challenging the Governor's sanction for his prosecution in the alleged MUDA site allotment scam. This opens the door for investigative agencies to proceed against Siddaramaiah, potentially jeopardizing his position. The BJP has already called for his resignation and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Governor on August 16 granted sanction for the commission of the alleged offences as mentioned in the petitions submitted to him by complainants Pradeep Kumar S P, T J Abraham, and Snehamayi Krishna. Siddaramaiah moved the High Court, seeking quashing of the Governor's order contending that his decision was legally unsustainable, procedurally flawed, and motivated by extraneous considerations.
However, the HC today upheld the sanction, saying: "The Governor under normal circumstances has to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers as under Article 163 of the constitution but can take independent decisions if exceptional circumstances arise. The present case projects one such exception. No fault can be found with the Governor exercising independent discretion to pass the impugned order."
What next for Siddarmaiah
With his plea dismissed, Siddaramaiah now faces the possibility of being booked for corruption and summoned for questioning. While he can challenge the order in the Supreme Court, investigative agencies are likely to move swiftly with the probe. The BJP has already called for his immediate resignation, and the mounting pressure may cause internal challenges for Siddaramaiah within his own party.
Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, however, asserted that Siddaramaih won't step down. "There is no question of resignation by CM. He has not done anything wrong. He is not involved with any scam. This is a political conspiracy by the BJP. We stand by him, we support him. He has been doing good work for the country, party, and state," Shivakumar said.
T J Abraham, one of the petitioners, suggested that this was a black-and-white case and that no counsel can get this order overturned. "It is going to be very very difficult task for any counsel, let them field the best...their best is already fielded here...let them field 10 more people, they will not be able to able to overcome this order. I'm very sure about this," he said while speaking to India Today.
CBI probe against CM?
Immediately after the order came out, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said it was a slap on the Congress government and Siddaramaiah. He said Siddaramaiah should resign and an impartial investigation should be conducted by the CBI. Responding to a question, the minister said the BJP has no desire of toppling the Karnataka government.
In Hubballi, BJP MP Jagadish Shettar says, "..Now impartial investigation has to be started after filing the FIR against the CM. When his name is involved and his wife's name is there, I insist the chief minister resign immediately on moral grounds. He has to allow an impartial investigation of the MUDA scam. It is a landmark decision and it has been pronounced by the High Court as per the legal purview." What is MUDA scam?
The MUDA had a 50:50 compensation scheme. Under the scheme, the authority acquires land from private owners to develop these residential layouts and compensates them by returning 50 per cent of the developed land. This means that landowners receive half of the developed land in return for the land they gave up.
The charge against the chief minister is that compensatory sites were allotted to his wife, B M Parvathi, in a prime area of Mysuru, which had a significantly higher property value compared to her original land, which had been "acquired" by MUDA. MUDA allotted these plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme as compensation for 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA had developed a residential layout. The petitioners claim that Parvathi did not have legal ownership of the 3.16 acres in question.
Siddaramaiah's brother-in-law, Malikarjuna Swamy Devaraj, is also accused of involvement in the alleged land scam. The case involves allegations against top officials of MUDA as well.