The Karnataka High Court has set November 23 as the date to hear an appeal by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which challenges the Governor’s sanction to prosecute him in the controversial Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam. This comes after a single-judge bench dismissed his initial plea in September.
The appeal was presented before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind, with senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi representing the Chief Minister. Singhvi pressed for an urgent hearing, which was granted by the bench, highlighting the case’s high stakes involving allegations of corruption linked to land grants.
The case centers around accusations that MUDA improperly granted over three acres of land to Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi. The land, which was initially acquired and then de-notified, was reportedly bought by Parvathi’s brother, Mallikarjuna Swamy, in 2004 and later transferred to her. Allegations suggest that despite being privately owned, MUDA developed the land and subsequently compensated Parvathi with 14 developed alternate plots under a controversial 50:50 scheme, leading to accusations of inflated compensation.
Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot had authorized the filing of a corruption case against Siddaramaiah in July, based on private complaints from activists including TJ Abraham, Snehamai Krishna, and Pradeep Kumar SP. Siddaramaiah argued that the Governor’s sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act lacked proper consideration and that MUDA’s decisions were independent of his influence.
Following the dismissal of his plea on September 24 by Justice M Nagaprasanna, the Karnataka Lokayukta filed an FIR against Siddaramaiah and three others, implicating them in corruption, cheating, and forgery related to the land transactions.
