siddaramaiah: MUDA scam: K'taka HC publishes CM Siddaramaiah's petition for August 29, asks court to postpone all proceedings

The Karnataka High Court on Monday asked the trial court to quash all proceedings related to the MUDA case and direct it not to take any action on the Governor's sanctions against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

A bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar heard the writ petition filed by the Chief Minister on an expedited basis and scheduled the case for further hearing on August 29.

Petitioner Siddaramaiah has stated in his petition that the sanction order issued by the Karnataka Governor is dubious and is part of a concerted attempt to destabilise the lawfully elected government in Karnataka for political reasons, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said during the hearing.

Earlier, the Governor of Karnataka had given permission to prosecute Siddaramaiah in connection with this scam, which put considerable pressure on him.

What you need to know about the MUDA scam

The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) is implicated in the alleged MUDA scam, where less valuable land in a remote area was allegedly exchanged for prime land.

The case is related to the allotment of an alternate plot to Parvathi, wife of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in the posh city of Mysuru. It is alleged that three acres and 16 guntas of remote land were acquired illegally.
The irregularities were first reported by complainant Snehamayi Krishna, who alleged that MUDA had created fake documents to secure land worth crores of rupees. The opposition parties have seized on these allegations, claiming that the land worth Rs 3,000 crore originally belonged to the Dalit community.

How Siddaramaiah reacted to the allegations
Siddaramaiah then denied all the allegations and claimed that all the actions were carried out legally. He alleged that MUDA had illegally developed a plan on four acres of land belonging to Parvathi in Mysuru's Kesarur, which he said had led to the current controversy.

Demanding Siddaramaiah's resignation, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said, “After considering all aspects and the opinion of legal experts, the Governor has approved the prosecution of CM Siddaramaiah. It is due process. CM Siddaramaiah should cooperate with the investigating agencies and the judiciary. He should resign as Chief Minister.”

Amid these developments, Siddaramaiah has asserted that he has the support of the entire state cabinet. “The entire cabinet, the party leadership, all MLAs, MLCs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs are behind me…” he said.