Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah gets clean chit in MUDA land scam case

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been given a clean chit on Wednesday by the state's anti-corruption watchdog, the Lokayukta, in connection with the MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) land scam case. 

The Lokayukta police, after a thorough investigation, confirmed that no evidence was found against Siddaramaiah, his wife, or other people named in the case. The probe, which had raised concerns about illegal land allotments, has now cleared the Chief Minister of any wrongdoing.

The probing officers said they have submitted the final report to the High Court.

"Since the above allegations against accused-1 to accused-4 in the case have not been proven due to lack of evidence, the final report is being submitted to the High Court," the Lokayukta police said in a letter to activist Snehamayi Krishna who is a complainant in the MUDA case.

Besides Siddaramaiah and his wife, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and the land owner Devaraju were also the accused.

The Lokayukta police said that further investigation will be conducted into the allegations of Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) providing compensatory plots in the ratio of 50:50 from 2016 to 2024 and an additional final report will be submitted to the High Court under Section 173 (8) CrPC.

What is MUDA scam and what are the allegations?

The case involves the allocation of compensatory plots by MUDA under a controversial 50:50 ratio scheme, where landowners were provided plots in exchange for land acquired by the authority for residential layouts. It was alleged that Parvathi Siddaramaiah received compensatory sites in a prime area of Mysuru, which had a higher property value compared to her original land.

The accusations against the Chief Minister’s family claim that Parvathi received land under this scheme for 3.16 acres of land she allegedly did not legally own, located at Survey Number 464 in Kasare village, Mysuru.

The Lokayukta as well as the ED are probing the matter simultaneously.