In a big relief to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a Special Court for Public Representatives on Wednesday accepted the closure report by the Lokayukta police giving a clean chit to him and his wife in the MUDA land allotment case.
Along with them, the court also gave relief to Siddaramaiah's brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and the original land owner J Devaraj.
The court was hearing the petition by activist Snehamayi Krishna in the MUDA land allotment case challenging the "B Report" (closure report) filed by the Lokayukta police.
The court allowed further investigation to continue against other accused persons and fixed the next hearing for February 9.
The Special Court headed by judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat passed the order. The complainant was present in person as also the Special Public Prosecutor of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Karnataka Lokayukta.
"The B Report filed by the Investigating Officer against accused-1 Siddaramaiah, accused-2 B M Parvathi (the CM's wife), accused-3 Mallikarjuna Swamy and accused-4 J Devaraj, is hereby accepted," the court said in its order.
The court, however, made it clear that the probe was not entirely closed, noting that "the further investigation being conducted by the Investigating Officer against other accused persons shall continue and he shall file the Final Report on completion of investigation." The judge also rejected the complainant's plea seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Investigating Officer.
On the role of the central agency, the court said, "it is held that the Directorate of Enforcement are having right to intervene in the case as aggrieved persons for limited extent." The court further directed administrative compliance, ordering: "Office is hereby directed to return the CD files and also the draft copy of the Final Report kept in the sealed cover to the concerned Investigating Officer on proper identification." For further proceedings, the matter has been posted for filing of the final report on February 9.
Lokayukta Police in February last year had given a clean chit to Siddaramaiah, Parvathi, and two other accused in connection with the case, stating that allegations against them have not been proven due to lack of evidence.
Siddaramaiah, his wife, Swamy and Devaraj -- from whom Swamy had purchased a land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others were named in the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police on September 27, 2024 on the directions of the court.
In the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case, it is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife 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 authority.
MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout, purportedly aided by Siddaramaiah's political influence. 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.
It was also alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over the 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kesare village, Kasaba Hobli of Mysuru Taluk.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
