MUDA scam: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah files writ petition to quash governor’s investigation sanction

MUDA scam: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah filed a writ petition in the high court on monday, challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s order. The governor approved an investigation against the CM in connection with irregularities in the allotment of alternative sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

Siddaramaiah, in his writ petition, submitted that the order was issued without due application of mind, and was in violation of statutory mandates, as well as contrary to constitutional principles. 

"The Hon’ble Governor’s decision is legally unsustainable, procedurally flawed, and motivated by extraneous considerations, and thus the Petitioner has preferred this Writ Petition seeking to quash the impugned order dated 16.08.2024 amongst other reliefs," he submitted.     

The August 16 order granted prior approval and sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Siddaramaiah told India Today that his legal team has filed the petition to quash the order. He said he is confident of the legal team, and has never been maligned in his career of 40 years. Siddaramaiah said this order was an attempt to smear his flawless reputation. He also confirmed that he would meet Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi. 

Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal are scheduled to arrive in Bengaluru on Monday, as per sources in the chief minister's office. The two top Supreme Court lawyers will meet Siddaramaiah and may appear on his behalf in the special court for public representatives, the sources added. 

“We will tackle it. We have the best constitutional experts being flown in. We have a lot of people within the state who are helping the government with this and we will take it up,” Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge told reporters without naming Sibal and Singhvi. 

The alleged scam relates to the allotment of sites to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area against the 'illegal acquisition' of her land measuring 3 acres, 16 guntas in Kesarur. While the opposition BJP and its ally JD(S) have cried foul, the chief minister has refuted the charge saying it is baseless and malicious to defame him and destabilise the Congress government in the state.