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HC allows Lokayukta cops to continue probe in Muda case
The high court directed the probe agency to file detailed records of its investigation so far and all relevant records and files concerning the case before the court by Thursday.
The Karnataka high court on Wednesday allowed the state’s Lokayukta police to continue their investigation against chief minister Siddaramaiah and others in connection with the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) site allocation irregularities.
Lifting the interim stay on investigation it had earlier imposed on the anti-corruption agency, the high court directed that the probe be monitored by the inspector general of police (IGP), Lokayukta. It also directed the probe agency to file detailed records of its investigation so far and all relevant records and files concerning the case before the court by Thursday.
“You (Lokayukta) resume your investigation and submit your final report or whatever you have done until then on the next date of hearing. But by tomorrow (January 16), you submit everything you have collected from December 19, 2024, until now,” Justice Nagaprasanna was quoted as saying in the order by Bar and Bench.
The high court set January 27 as the next date of the hearing.
The directive came while the court was hearing a plea filed by activist Snehamayi Krishna, seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case, which has caused major embarrassment to Siddaramaiah as well as the Congress government in the southern state.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing Krishna, who is one of the three complainants in the Muda case, questioned the impartiality of the Lokayukta investigation, given the involvement of high-ranking officials and politicians, including the chief minister.
Singh argued that critical case records had allegedly been taken from the Lokayukta by a committee of three IAS officers, who conducted an unannounced inspection after the probe began under the court’s instructions. However, the high court clarified that the committee’s surprise check pertained to the general functioning of Muda and was unrelated to the specific allegations against Siddaramaiah.
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Ravivarma Kumar, representing Siddaramaiah, dismissed countered the petitioner’s allegations, saying the visit by the panel of bureaucrats occurred before a special court authorised the Lokayukta to investigate the matter.
The court reiterated its intent to review the investigation records before deciding on whether the case warrants a transfer to CBI. It also directed all involved parties to submit objections by the next hearing.
The legal battle stems from accusations of corruption, forgery, and cheating in the allocation of a Muda plot to Siddaramaiah’s wife, BM Parvathi.
The Lokayukta police registered an FIR against the chief minister and three others on September 27 last year, days after the high court upheld the governor’s sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah.
The CM then approached the high court seeking to overturn the decision, resulting in an interim stay granted on December 19.
