The Karnataka High Court on Thursday, December 5, issued notice to the state government and others in the plea filed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with the Governor granting sanction to prosecute him over alleged irregularities in the allotment of housing sites to his wife.
A bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind was hearing the plea filed by the Chief Minister, LiveLaw reported.
Siddaramaiah had filed a plea challenging the single-judge order by Justice M Nagaprasanna on September 24 upholding Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot’s sanction to prosecute the CM over the allotment of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) sites to his wife Parvathi.
Parvathi’s brother Mallikarjun Swamy had bought 3.16 acres of land in Kesare village, Mysuru district, in 2004 and had gifted it to his sister in 2010. Parvathi had written to MUDA in 2014, saying she was entitled to compensation for the land as MUDA had developed it without acquiring it. Activists and the Opposition had alleged that the sites, which were in a prime location in Mysuru, were allotted in violation of the law.
Advocates representing Siddaramaiah submitted that the single-judge order had wrongly upheld the Governor’s decision and that Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) had been violated. They said that the complainants in the case had directly approached the Governor instead of the police according to procedure, LiveLaw reported. Section 17A of the PCA pertains to investigation of offences allegedly committed by a public official.
The Court also issued notice to Devaraju, the man who sold the land to Mallikarjun in 2004. Advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Devaraju, sought an ex-parte stay on the notice issued to Devaraju by the single-judge in a petition filed seeking the transfer of the case to the CBI.
Three people had filed separate complaints with the Governor, alleging that the CM’s wife had been given the sites in violation of the law, following which the Governor had given sanction to prosecute the CM.