Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah booked by ED in probe linked to Mysuru land allotment

“We are in possession of the details of the FIR and relevant case details. The offences fall under the schedule of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),” a senior ED official said.

Registration of an ED case opens the doors for attachment of properties belonging to the Chief Minister and his family, apart from more coercive measures.

Earlier this year, two Chief Ministers — Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal — were arrested in connection with cases filed by the ED. Both were recently granted bail after several months behind bars.

Last Friday, the Karnataka Lokayukta police had booked Siddaramaiah and three others on charges of corruption, cheating and forgery in connection with the alleged allotment of 14 MUDA housing sites to the CM’s wife in 2021.

The Mysuru unit of the Lokayukta police filed the FIR on the basis of a private complaint by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, which was referred to the agency by a special court for elected representatives on September 25.

Apart from Siddaramaiah, others named in the FIR are his wife B M Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and a former landowner named Devaraju.

This comes after the Karnataka High Court, on September 24, upheld the approval given by Governor Thawarchand Gehlot to three private individuals to file cases against the CM under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Following the registration of the Lokayukta FIR, the complainant in the case had also approached the ED for further action. Agency sources, however, said that the Central agency was already moving on the case.

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

The alleged illegal land exchange is reported to have caused a loss of Rs 56 crore to the state, according to the activists who approached the Governor and the special court.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi has written to MUDA, asking it to cancel the sale deeds of the alternate sites allotted to her.

The letter, addressed to the MUDA Commissioner, was released by the Chief Minister’s Office Monday evening.

It noted that MUDA had granted her alternate sites of various dimensions at Vijayanagar third and fourth stage, Mysuru, in exchange for using her 3 acre 16 gunta land without acquiring it.

“I would like to return the sites allotted to me by asking MUDA to cancel the sale deeds of the 14 sites it had granted in my favour. I am returning the sites in my possession back to MUDA,” the letter stated.

In another statement, Parvathi said that she was hurt by the allegations over the alternate sites allotted by MUDA. Noting that the land was gifted to her by her brother, she said that she hadn’t imagined that it would turn out to be such an issue.

“I don’t know what my husband’s opinion is about the issue. I have not discussed it either with my son or other members of my family… Some may ask why I arrived at the decision at this juncture. I had taken the decision on the day the allegations surfaced. But, since some well-wishers told me that the issue was politically motivated and we had to fight this injustice, I had decided not to (return the sites),” she said, adding that she was determined to return the sites.

She also demanded an investigation into all the allegations levelled against her. In a request to political parties of the state, she urged them not to drag her into a controversy.

— With ENS, Bengaluru