On Monday (30th September), Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. The CM, his wife and others are facing money laundering allegations in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case, following an FIR registered against him by the Karnataka Lokayukta police last week.
The FIR, filed by the Lokayukta’s Mysuru unit, stemmed from a complaint by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna. Besides Siddaramaiah, the FIR also named his wife B M Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and a former landowner named Devaraju.
The order of Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat came a day after the Karnataka High Court upheld the sanction granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on the allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife BM Parvathi by MUDA.
The FIR alleges that compensatory sites were improperly allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in a more affluent Mysuru area, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the land transactions. The charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) include criminal conspiracy, public servant misconduct, dishonest misappropriation, cheating, and forgery, among others.
It was filed under sections of the Indian Penal Code including 351, 420, 340, IPC 09, 120B among others. News agency PTI reported that the ED is studying the Lokayukta Police FIR, and may apply sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to book the Karnataka chief minister in its ECIR.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, it was widely reported that the Karnataka Police had booked RTI activist Krishna, one of the complaints against CM Siddaramaiah in MUDA scam case, in an alleged assault and harassment case. Denying the allegations levelled by a woman complainant, Krishna had called it a “conspiracy” to silence his activism.
What are the allegations against Congress CM Siddaramaiah in the MUDA scam?
On 10th July, RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna filed a complaint against CM Siddaramaiah and nine others for allegedly forging documents to claim compensation from the development authority (MUDA). The allegations involve the allotment of 14 pricey land sites in Mysuru to the family members of CM Siddaramaiah in exchange for 3 acres 16 guntas of land which were on the outskirts of the city.
The complaint has accused CM Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy Devaraj, who claimed to be a landowner, and his family of ‘wrongdoings’. It has alleged irregularities and a scam in the land acquisition and allotment of an alternate site to CM’s family.
As per the allegations, the development authority (MUDA) generally follows a 60:40 ratio in development projects after acquiring lands from farmers. According to the 60:40 rule, the authority gives back 40% of land to the aggrieved farmers in the “same developed project”. However, in the allotment of land to CM Siddaramaiah’s family, it is alleged that the MUDA officials followed a 50:50 ratio and allocated plots in alternate sites whose estimated worth is said to be higher.
The scam allegations against the CM have sent shockwaves in state politics. The principal opposition party, BJP has been demanding a CBI probe. According to the BJP, CM Siddaramaiah helped himself with the allotment of 14 plots in the upscale Vijayanagar locality in Mysuru. They have charged CM’s family with accepting Rs 35 crore worth of plots in place of earlier decided compensation of Rs 3 lakh.