Karnataka High Court Notices CM Siddaramaiah Over Site Allotment Case

In Bengaluru, the Karnataka High Court has asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife, along with others, to respond to accusations about site allotments in a big case. An RTI activist named Snehamayi Krishna is asking for a transfer of the investigation to the CBI because Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi B M, is accused of getting 14 illegal sites from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

Previously, a judge rejected this appeal on February 7, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to switch the investigation from Lokayukta Police to the CBI. The High Court, led by Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind, set a date for the responses, stating they want to look at the case again on April 28.

The earlier court decided that the Lokayukta police were doing their job well and had enough independence, meaning they believed the investigation was fair. During Wednesday’s discussion, the judges raised questions about whether Snehamayi Krishna’s appeal was valid.

The lawyer for the appellant clarified that he was not arguing against a previous court decision; he just wants a new order allowing the CBI to investigate. He mentioned that another related case concerning permission to prosecute the others involved is set for April 28 as well.

This matter is serious as Siddaramaiah, his wife, and others are named in a police report. Although the Lokayukta police asked to investigate further, they also reported they found little evidence against Siddaramaiah and others. However, they mentioned that MUDA’s way of allotting land seemed to have caused a loss to the government.

The allegations claim that Siddaramaiah’s wife got 14 valuable plots in a prime area of Mysuru while only giving MUDA a piece of land that wasn’t as valuable. The MUDA had a scheme that allowed them to give land back to people who gave theirs up, but the controversy over how it was done is still ongoing.