MUDA gave land to Siddaramaiah's wife when he was CM; his role has to be probed: Karnataka High Court told

One of the complainants in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment case told the Karnataka High Court on Monday that the Authority allotted alternative land plots to Parvathi, Siddaramiah’s wife, when he was Chief Minister of the State. .Therefore, the CM's role, even if assumed to be miniscule, must be investigated, Senior Advocate KG Raghavan argued on behalf of activist Snehamayi Krishna..The senior lawyer was responding to a claim made during the previous hearing by Siddaramaiah’s counsel and Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi that even if any irregularity were to be assumed in such land allotment, Siddaramaiah had had no role in the decision taken.Justice M Nagaprasanna has been hearing the petition filed by Siddaramaiah challenging the sanction granted by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot for his prosecution in the alleged scam. On Monday, he observed that while all parties had produced voluminous records on the alleged scam, no one had spoken about the Chief Minister’s role..“A decision was taken in November 2017. MUDA decided to award alternative sites to Parvathi, the wife of the petitioner, admitting it had erred in using de-notified land to form a development layout. This is the crux of the entire thing. The land was purchased by the petitioner’s brother-in-law, de-notified, gifted to his sister via a gift deed, developed, and then compensation paid using an amended Rule. All of this happened when the petitioner was the sitting Chief Minister of the State. His first term was from 2013 to 2018. This is how he is linked,” Raghavan said.The Senior Advocate further argued that the Governor’s sanction merely meant that the prosecuting authorities will investigate his role..“Maybe in the end everybody gets a clean chit, so be it. However, even if there is a hint of suspicion that a public servant has played even a miniscule role in any wrongdoing, then a case is made under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Raghavan said..Raghavan also took the Court through a timeline of the case. He said that on August 30, 1997, the original owner of the land, one Devaraju, sought de-notificatuon of the land. The land was de-notified in 1998. In 2004, Devaraju sold this land to PM Mallikarjunaswamy, Siddaramaiah 's brother-in-law.In October 2010, Mallikarjunaswamy gifted the land to his sister Parvathi, Siddaramaiah’s wife. In June 2014, Parvathi sought compensation in lieu of her land being used up by MUDA. And in December 2017, MUDA decided to compensate Parvathi and award alternative sites to her..Since Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister at the time, his role must be investigated, Raghavan reiterated..The High Court will hear further arguments in the matter on September 9..The matter was last heard on August 31, Saturday, when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta concluded submissions on behalf of the Governor of Karnataka, and Senior Advocates Maninder Singh and Prabhuling K Navadgi (among others) made submissions on behalf of the complainants (respondents) who had sought the prosecution sanction.Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty is expected to finish his arguments on behalf of the State on September 9, after which Senior Advocate Dr AM Singhvi will make rejoinder submissions on behalf of Siddaramaiah.