New Delhi: The Karnataka high court on Friday (February 7) dismissed a petition seeking to transfer the probe by the Lokayukta police into the MUDA land case against chief minister Siddaramaiah to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna, hearing the petition filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, observed that “a CBI probe is not a panacea for the projected ill”.
“The material on record does not indicate that investigation conducted by Lokayukta is partisan or lopsided or shoddy for this court to refer the matter to CBI for further investigation or reinvestigation,” the court said.
The high court had earlier reserved its judgment on January 27 after hearing all the parties.
The case pertains to a suspected ‘scam’ regarding land grants made by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to Siddaramaiah’s family in 2021.
The activist had argued that Lokayukta police was not probing the case effectively because it functions under the purview of the state government, headed by Siddaramaiah.
On September 25 last year, a special court had ordered an investigation by the Lokayukta police on the plea of the activist seeking probe by any agency. This was a day after Karnataka high court dismissed Siddaramaiah’s petition challenging the governor’s approval for an investigation into the site allotment case.
However, the activist subsequently approached the high court on September 28, specifically seeking a CBI probe in the matter.
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The MUDA case revolves around 14 sites worth Rs 56 crore that were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme as compensation by MUDA after it “wrongfully” acquired 3.16 acres of land gifted to her by her brother in 2010.
However, allegations suggest that Parvathi did not hold legal title to the land in question. The development sparked a political row in Karnataka, with opposition parties demanding the chief minister’s resignation.
The Lokayukta police investigation will examine the allegations of improper site allocation, undervalued land exchange, and questionable land ownership.
Siddaramaiah argued that there was no wrongdoing or corruption on his part, while his wife returned the sites to MUDA.
Siddaramaiah has also filed an appeal in the high court against the special court’s order. A division bench is scheduled to hear the appeal on March 22.
