BENGALURU: Karnataka governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on Saturday sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the alleged illegal allotment of fourteen sites to his wife, Parvathi, by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
In response, Siddaramaiah consulted his legal team to consider challenging the governor's decision in the high court. He also called a special cabinet meeting at Vidhan Soudha at 5 p.m. to discuss the next steps, though the meeting might be cancelled , according to sources. "The cabinet meeting is likely to get cancelled. But the Congress party legislators have planned to lay siege to the Rajbhavan immediately", a source informed TNIE.
The governor's office conveyed the issue of sanction against Siddaramaiah to the Chief Secretary of the government and also the three petitioners including anti corruption activist T J Abraham. The sanction issued for the prosecution against the CM is under section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Samhita 2013, it noted.
With this the governor rejected the aid and advice of the council of ministers that met under the chairmanship of DCM D K Shivakumar on Aug.1, in Siddaramaiah's absence, and passed resolution to withdraw the showcause notice and reject the petition of T J Abraham.
“Constituting a committee under an IAS officer and immediately constituting one more committee under a retired Judge of the High Court and the government’s own acceptance that there is a potent big-ticket scam in the allotment of sites by MUDA does not inspire much confidence,” Governor Gehlot said in his notice according sanction to prosecute the CM.
Person charged mustn’t decide course of probe, says governor
“It is a well-settled legal principle that the person against whom allegations are made should not be empowered to decide the course of action. Even after such grave allegations being involved in the present matter and the fact that the material prima facie supports the allegations, the decision taken by the Council of Ministers is irrational.”
The “irrational decision” pertains to the CoM’s earlier ‘advice’ to the governor to withdraw a notice issued to CM Siddaramaiah on July 26, and to reject the petition filed by activist TJ Abraham, seeking to prosecute the CM under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Samhita.
The governor claimed to have studied the petitions and the resolution passed by the cabinet meeting, which was held in CM’s absence but appointed on his advice, on August 1, 2024, against issuing the notice to Siddaramaiah.
CM’s legal advisor AS Ponnanna said, “We will consult senior lawyers and decide on either moving the High Court or the Supreme Court.”
While petitioner Abraham said he will move the court with the governor’s sanction and file a caveat on Monday to stop the government from getting an injunction against the governor’s sanction, another petitioner Pradeep Kumar SP filed a caveat before the High Court on Saturday itself.
Kumar and another petitioner Snehamayi Krishna have also said they will take forward the case.
It was on July 26, Abraham lodged a petition seeking the sanction of prosecution and on the same day the governor had issued the showcause notice to the CM.
Activists Snehamayi Krishna and Pradeepkumar S P had also petitioned the governor.
Home minister Dr G Parameshwara reacting to the governor's move, alleged that the latter might be under the pressure from the BJP high command to reject the council of ministers' aid and advice and issued the sanction. The cabinet colleagues of Siddaramaiah including the forest minister Eshwar Khandre and Dinesh Gundurao attacked the governor alleging that he being partisan.
Khandre urged that the governor should resign from his post on moral grounds for being biased and if he doesn't the President of India should dismiss him. " The governor had played into the gallery BJP high command especially prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah who have conspired to destabilise the elected government in Karnataka", Khandre alleged. He warned that the people of the state will take it to the streets.
In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
The BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA "scam" is of the magnitude of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
The Congress government on July 14 constituted a single member inquiry commission under former High Court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.
The opposition BJP and JDS held a week-long 'padayatre' earlier this month from Bengaluru to Mysuru demanding the resignation of Siddaramaiah in connection with the scam.
