ED registers case against Siddaramaiah in MUDA case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to an FIR by the police, against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the alleged irregularities in allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi B.M. by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

The ED registered the case taking cognisance of the FIR registered against the Chief Minister by the Lokayukta police on September 27.

This comes amidst rising confrontation between the ruling Congress in Karnataka and the BJP, which is the prinicipal party in the NDA government at the Centre, over the alleged misuse of Central agencies.

The Congress has also alleged that the Governor’s decision to sanction permission to probe the Chief Minister, based on a private complaint, was also “partisan”.

However, the High Court of Karnataka dismissed Mr. Siddaramaiah’s petition challenging the Governor’s decision, following which the elected representative’s court directed Lokayukta police to launch an investigation against the Chief Minister and submit a report in three months’ time.

The Lokayukta police registered the FIR following a direction from the court.

The complainant in the case, Snehamayi Krishna, had also lodged a complaint with the ED the same day. Mr. Krishna contended that Mr. Siddaramaiah’s wife had “illegally” made a gain of ₹55.8 crore through the irregularities in the allotment of sites by MUDA and that this was related to one of the “scheduled offences” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Sources in the ED in Delhi confirmed to The Hindu that they had registered an ECIR in the case, taking cognisance of the FIR Lokayukta police.

The FIR lists Mr. Siddaramaiah as the prime accused in the case and the other accused are Ms. Parvathi, the Chief Minister’s brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju, who sold the land in question to Mr. Mallikarjuna Swamy.

They have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, The Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, and Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2011.

Published - September 30, 2024 08:43 pm IST