The Karnataka Lokayukta police Monday sought an extension of time to file a final report on their investigation into allegations of corruption brought against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah over the allotment of 14 housing sites to his wife by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in 2021. The special public prosecutor for the Lokayukta police sought a “short accommodation” before a special court to file the final report in the MUDA land allotments investigation. The special court adjourned the matter by a week following the request by the Lokayukta police. The final report in the investigation into the MUDA allegations is reported to be currently under the scrutiny of the Lokayukta police top brass. The Lokayukta police had presented a report on the investigations – whetted by senior police officials – to the Karnataka High Court last month after the high court directed supervision of the probe by the inspector-general of police (IGP) and the additional director general of police (ADGP). On February 7, the Karnataka High Court rejected a plea by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna for a CBI probe into the corruption allegations against the Karnataka chief minister and his family over the MUDA land allotments and expressed confidence in the Lokayukta police. Krishna, who filed the original private complaint seeking a probe into the MUDA land allotments, had claimed that the Lokayukta police were not effectively investigating the case since they function under the purview of the state government. “The Lokayukta/office of the Lokayukta does not suffer from questionable independence. The insulation of the institution from external influences is already recognized by the Apex Court and the Division Bench of this Court…” the Karnataka High Court stated in its February 7 order rejecting the plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. The high court bench which perused a report (in a sealed cover) presented by the Lokayukta police on the investigation conducted in the corruption case filed against the Karnataka chief minister by the RTI activist said there was no indication of any bias by the Lokayukta police in their probe. RTI activist Krishna who obtained a sanction from Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot to prosecute the Karnataka chief minister in July 2024 was granted clearance by the high court on September 24, 2024, to seek an investigation into the MUDA land allotments. A special court ordered an investigation by the Karnataka Lokayukta police on September 25, 2024, after the RTI activist sought a probe by the Lokayukta, the CBI, or any other agency. The MUDA case is centred around 14 sites worth Rs 56 crore that were allotted to CM Siddaramaiah’s wife as compensation by MUDA in the year 2021 when the BJP was in power – after around 3.16 acre of land gifted to Siddaramaiah’s wife by her brother in 2010 had been “wrongfully” acquired by MUDA in 2014. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has argued in public that there was no wrongdoing or corruption on his part in the allotment of 14 housing sites by MUDA to his wife. The wife of the chief minister has meanwhile returned the 14 compensation sites allotted to her by MUDA under a controversial 50:50 scheme. Siddaramaiah has filed an appeal in the high court against the single-judge order of September 24, 2024, which facilitated the investigation into the alleged illegalities in the allotment of 14 MUDA housing sites to his wife. A division bench is due to hear the appeal on March 22.
