Plea for CBI probe: Karnataka High Court adjourns hearing in MUDA land case after counsel cites pending appeals

The Karnataka chief minister and his family members are accused of illegally benefiting from the MUDA land exchange scheme in which 3.16 acres of land outside Mysuru, gifted to Siddaramaiah’s wife by her brother in 2010, was exchanged for 14 housing sites in a prime locality in Mysuru under a 50:50 exchange scheme created during the BJP’s 2019-23 rule.

Appearing for J Devaraju, whose 3.16 acres of land was bought by Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law in 2010, senior counsel Dushyant Dave on Tuesday sought time in the case on the grounds that the appeals are pending before a division bench.

In its adjournment order on Tuesday, the high court bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna said, “The learned counsel submits that if the division bench has fixed its date for December 5, 2024 and therefore seeks adjournment to a date after December 5, 2024… List this matter on December 10, 2024. The understanding is that it will be heard on the said date.”

The court had on September 24 allowed a probe into alleged illegalities in the allotment of 14 high-value housing sites by MUDA to Siddaramaiah’s wife in 2021 in exchange for 3.16 acres of land on the outskirts of Mysuru in a 50:50 land allotment scheme which has since been scrapped by the Congress government.

On November 5, the court sought a status report on the probe in the case by the Lokayukta police. This came on the plea by activist Snehamayi Krishna seeking a CBI probe into the alleged MUDA scam.

The Mysuru unit of the Karnataka Lokayukta police had registered an FIR on September 27 against Siddaramaiah and others on charges of corruption, cheating, and forgery on the basis of a private complaint filed by Krishna and two others which were referred to the agency by a special court for elected representatives on September 25.

The special court referred the matter for a Lokayukta police probe after the Karnataka High Court on September 24 upheld the sanction accorded by the Governor for an investigation into the alleged MUDA scam.

Siddaramaiah’s wife has, meanwhile, returned the 14 housing sites granted as compensation to her by MUDA in what is seen as an effort to avoid the corruption charges leveled against her husband over the land deal.

Siddaramaiah’s wife, brother-in-law named in case

Besides Siddaramaiah, the others named in the FIR include his wife B M Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and Devaraju who previously owned the 3.16 acres of land.

The high court, while rejecting Siddaramaiah’s petition, had said, “It is difficult to accept that CM Siddaramaiah was not ‘behind the curtain’ during the entire transaction of MUDA land, in which his family allegedly benefitted approximately Rs 56 crores.”