BENGALURU: The Lokayukta police are likely to submit their report on investigation in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam before the High Court on Saturday. The report, according to sources, was reportedly vetted by the two seniormost IPS officers heading the Lokayukta police -- ADGP Manish Kharbikar and IGP A Subramanyeswara Rao, on Friday.
On January 15, the High Court had entrusted the two top police officers to peruse and oversee investigation by the Mysuru wing of the Lokayukta police into the criminal case against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathy and two others over the alleged illegal allotment of 14 sites in upscale Vijayanagar Layout. The sites were in lieu of the low-value 3.16 acres of land in Kesare village by MUDA in 2021. The land was gifted to Parvathy by her brother Mallikarjun Swamy in 2010.
According to informed sources, the anti-corruption police wing may submit a “status report” on the investigation done so far, while seeking some more time from court to complete it. “It is possible that Lokayukta police may state that they have reportedly found no evidence to prove the complicity of the prime accused (Siddaramaiah) in the alleged alternative land allotment scam.
They may also state that during the course of investigation, they have found compliance/negligence of then MUDA officer/s or others. They may seek time from court to investigate them. For that, they will have to seek sanction from the government under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988. This will be a time-consuming affair,” said sources on condition of anonymity.
The Lokayukta SP, Mysuru, on September 27, 2024, had registered an FIR against Siddaramaiah, Parvathy and two others under direction of the special court for elected representatives in Bengaluru after the latter took cognisance of a complaint filed by RTI activist and MUDA petitioner Snehmayi Krishna. He had named Siddaramaiah as the prime accused and Parvathy as the second accused.
Siddaramaiah, Parvathy, his brother-in-law Mallikarjun Swamy and land owner Devaraju have been listed as A1, A2, A3 & A4 in the FIR under Section 9 (bribing public servant by a commercial organisation) and Section 13 (criminal misconduct by a public servant) of the PC Act, Sections 120B, 166, 403, 406, 426, 465, 468. 340 and 351 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Meanwhile, the ED, which last weekend attached 142 immovable properties worth Rs 300 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the MUDA case, has unearthed several violations, including alleged benami and other illegal transactions in its probe in the scam.