'No action till Aug 29': Karnataka HC gives interim relief to Siddaramaiah in MUDA scam case

The interim relief for the embattled Chief Minister will be in effect till August 29, when the High Court will hear this case next.

Siddaramaiah had moved the High Court against Gehlot's nod to prosecute him and sought this interim relief on grounds the Governor's action was "illegal and without authority of law", and that allowing his prosecution posed "a grave and imminent risk of irreparable harm (to his) reputation" as well as "disrupt governance... and potentially result in political destabilisation".

"Since the matter is heard by this court and pleadings are to be completed... till the next date of hearing the concerned court (the trial court) should defer its proceedings..." the High Court said.

In its order the court noted that documents submitted by the petitioner (i.e., Chief Minister Siddaramaiah) had "referred to several points of order... to prima facie demonstrate that (the) order (granting sanction to prosecute) bears non-application of mind (by the Governor).

The court also noted the Chief Minister's submission - that the Governor had sanctioned the prosecution of the former at "breakneck" speed following the filing of a complaint on July 26.

The petitions were filed by three activists, Pradeep Kumar, TJ Abraham, and Snehamayi Krishna.

A letter from the Governor's secretariat to the activists is quoted by NDTV, "As directed by the Governor, I am enclosing herewith the copy of the decision of the Competent Authority on the request of sanction for prosecution against the Chief Minister Shri Siddaramaiah, under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the BharatiyaNagarika Suraksha Samhitha, 2023 for the commission of the alleged offences mention in the petitions."

The opposition BJP has accused MUDA of illegally allotting an alternative site to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvati.

The BJP has protested outside the Chief Minister's residence and demanded his resignation.

Coming under fire, Siddaramaiah said the government is probing into the allegations and all allocations by MUDA have been suspended.

In a press statement, Siddaramaiah termed the Governor's decision "anti-Constitution" and "contrary to the law."

Siddaramaiah also alleged that it was a "conspiracy to dislodge a democratically elected government by the BJP, JD(S), and others".

What is the MUDA scam?

The MUDA 50:50 scheme, which was introduced in 2009 but was scrapped in 2020 by the then BJP government, promises land owners 50 percent of the developed land per acre which they give up.

Though it was scrapped in 2020, MUDA continued to allot land under the scheme.

MUDA continued even after the government ordered twice in the last six months asking it to cancel all allotments until clear guidelines are issued.

It is suspected that the sites were alloted to influential people and real estate agents instead of giving them to the eligible beneficiaries.