BENGALURU: The Special Court to try cases against sitting and former MPs/MLAs in the city, on Wednesday, directed the Lokayukta police to investigate the allegations against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about the illegal allotment of 14 compensatory sites to his wife Parvathy B M by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and submit a report in three months.
Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat passed the order after hearing the arguments on the complaint filed by Snehamayi Krishna seeking directions to conduct the probe against the alleged role of Siddaramaiah in the allotment of sites.
The order came a day after Siddaramaiah lost his legal battle before the Karnataka High Court against the approval given by Governor Thawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against him.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, Judge of the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the approval given by the governor under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act in response to the complaints filed by social workers Snehamayi Krishna, TJ Abraham and advocate Pradeep Kumar S P.
While dismissing Siddaramaiah's petition against the approval, the high court clearly stated that the investigation was undoubtedly required since Siddaramaiah was "behind the smoke screen" for every benefit that has flown to his wife in terms of the sites allotted to her.
Even the high court observed that prima facie the CM's family had obtained undue advantage because the compensatory sites were allotted in an upscale area for the land acquired in a down market area in Mysuru.
These circumstances are enough for undue influence by a public servant to benefit his own family, the court said, adding that, for undue influence, there need not be any recommendations or any order passed by a public servant, the high court said.
Referring to this, the special court said that the high court has also pointed out the prima facie role of Siddaramaiah and hence should not fight shy of any investigation. Therefore, the Lokayukta police should conduct the probe and submit the report by December 24, the special court said.
Before this, Senior counsel Lakshmy Iyengar, representing the complainant, Snehamayi Krishna. She produced a copy of the high court's verdict before the special court and argued in favour of the investigation required in the matter.
