Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court challenging the recent decision of the governor granting permission to prosecute him in the multi-crore Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.
High Court is likely to hear Siddaramaiah’s plea today
The petition of the Chief Minster is expected to be heard by the High Court during the day.
Karnataka Chief Minister in his petition claims that the decision of the governor granting “sanction for prosecution against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, under section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Samhitha, 2023” has been done without application of mind.
The petition also asserts that the sanction by the Karnataka governor in the MUDA scam is tainted and an effort to destabilise the elected government in Karnataka.
Moreover, the petition also claims that the governor’s decision is legally unsustainable, procedurally flawed motivated by extraneous considerations and must be set aside.
The decision to challenge the governor’s decision by the chief minister follows series of meeting with lawyers on Sunday, who decided that the governor’s decision should be challenged on the grounds of mala fides and legally impermissible in the High Court.
Governor granted permission to prosecute Siddaramaiah in MUDA scam on August 17
On August 17, the Karnataka governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot had granted permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA scam.
The decision comes on petitions filed by social activists before the governor.
Chief Minster Siddaramaiah in his reaction to the Governor’s decision had said that it was unconstitutional and was a conspiracy by the BJP and JD(S) to destabilise his government.
What is MUDA scam ?
MUDA scam pertains to irregularities in allotment of compensatory sites by MUDA for the lands acquired by it under the 50:50 scheme. The allegation against Siddaramaiah is that his wife Parvati got plush plots as compensation against a 3.2 acre plot in her name which was acquired by MUDA. The charge is that the 14 plots given as compensation to the chief minister’s wife was valued many times the land acquired from her.
