BENGALURU: Devaraju J., who sold land to Mallikarjuna Swamy, the brother-in-law of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after the denotification of land acquired by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), has filed an appeal in the Karnataka High Court. The appeal challenges a September 24 order by a single judge, which upheld the governor's consent to investigate the MUDA scam. Devaraju alleges that the single judge made damning observations and recorded findings against him regarding events from 25 years ago, without making him a party to the petition or providing him an opportunity to be heard.
While upholding the governor's consent for an investigation into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of sites to Siddaramaiah's wife, B.M. Parvathy, by MUDA, the single judge had ordered the Lokayukta police to investigate and submit a report.
On Wednesday, when the division bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind resumed the hearing, senior counsel Dushyant Dave, representing 79-year-old Devaraju, a resident of Kengeri Satellite Town in Bengaluru, argued that his client is caught in a political conflict between powerful politicians.
Dave submitted that Devaraju is a small landholder and that the single judge's observations and findings would subject him to criminal prosecution. He urged the court to list the appeal for a hearing, emphasizing that without intervention, Devaraju could face severe civil and criminal repercussions.
When asked about the case's context, Dave explained that the matter involves a conflict between public-spirited citizens and the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Devaraju, however, has no involvement in the controversy beyond selling his land in 2004, which had been denotified in 1998. Dave pointed out that the single judge had declared the 1998 denotification and the 2004 sale deed invalid without hearing Devaraju’s side. Consequently, Devaraju filed the appeal to avoid being entangled in the political dispute.
The court ordered the appeal to be listed for hearing on November 23. On the same date, Siddaramaiah's appeal against the single judge's order is also scheduled for hearing. However, Dave requested the court to hear Devaraju's appeal separately, rather than clubbing it with Siddaramaiah's case.
