A special court in Bengaluru on Wednesday, January 28 accepted the closure report filed by the Karnataka Lokayukta police in connection with the allotment of housing sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi and two others
The Lokayukta police had filed a ‘B report’, a closure report, before the court in February 2025, stating that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of corruption against Siddaramaiah, Parvathi, the Chief Minister’s brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and former landowner J Devaraj. The report was initially kept in abeyance to allow the Lokayukta police to continue investigations into broader allegations of irregularities and large-scale corruption in MUDA’s land allotments.
On Wednesday, the special court formally accepted the closure report. “The B report filed by the investigating officer against accused No. 1 Sri Siddaramaiah, accused No. 2 Smt B. M. Parvathi, accused No. 3 Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy and accused No. 4 Sri J. Devaraj is hereby accepted,” the court said in its order.
The court also rejected a plea by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna seeking contempt-of-court proceedings against the investigating officer for alleged delays in the probe. At the same time, it made clear that investigations against other accused persons in the broader MUDA case would continue.
The decision came days after the Lokayukta police submitted a draft copy of a final report on January 13, outlining the status of investigations into the alleged MUDA scam. The special court had earlier returned the draft report submitted in a sealed cover and directed the Lokayukta police to continue probing other accused persons and file a comprehensive final report after completing the investigation.
The case originated from a private complaint filed by Snehamayi Krishna in 2024, alleging corruption in the allotment of 14 housing sites by MUDA to the Chief Minister’s family in exchange for a 3.16-acre property allegedly acquired by the authority. Acting on the complaint, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot granted sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, in August 2024 to investigate Siddaramaiah.
The Karnataka High Court subsequently upheld the Governor’s sanction in September 2024, observing that an investigation into the allegations was necessary. Following this, the special court directed the Lokayukta police to register an FIR and conduct a detailed investigation.
In its ruling, the court also addressed the role of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money-laundering angle of the MUDA case. The court said the ED could intervene in the matter only to a “limited extent” as an aggrieved party. Both the RTI activist and the ED had challenged the closure report, with the activist also seeking a CBI investigation into the case.
The special court further rejected the protest petition filed by Snehamayi Krishna questioning the outcome of the Lokayukta probe. Santosh Gajanan Bhat, judge of the Special Court of Sessions for Criminal Cases against former and present MPs and MLAs, delivered the verdict, effectively giving Siddaramaiah and his wife a clean chit in the specific case relating to the 14 housing sites.
The controversy over the allotment had earlier prompted Parvathi to return the 14 housing sites to MUDA in 2024.