MUDA Scam: Karnataka HC orders notice to Governor, others on writ appeal from CM Siddaramaiah

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered notices to Governor Thawarchand Gehlot and others on a writ appeal filed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah challenging a September 24 judgement paving way for investigations against him and his family members.

On an order by a local court in Bengaluru, the Lokayukta is investigating charges related Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) allotting 14 pricey plots to the CM’s wife Parvathy in an upscale residential area in Mysuru in return for 3.16 acres of land that MUDA acquired at Kesare village on the city outskirts.

Justice M Nagaprasanna at the high court has allowed investigation of charges against the CM’s family under 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, while rejecting the Governor’s sanction under Section 218 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2003.


The court also ordered notice on an appeal from Devaraju, the landowner who sold the plot to the CM’s wife, for involving him in the case of alleged irregularities.

The division bench posted the case for further hearing on January 25, saying the notices were returnable by then.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared before a division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind. Sibal insisted that the Governor does not have the authority to approve prosecution of the CM. Permitting prosecution like this against the CM and ministers would lead to chaos, he added.

On Wednesday, the CM had accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of deliberately leaking its letter to the Lokayukta in the ongoing probe into the allotment of plots in Mysuru to influence courts.