Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be prosecuted in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam’ as Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has sanctioned his prosecution based on a complaint filed by an RTI activist. However, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that it has not received any communication.
The Governor's secretariat has written to Pradeep Kumar SP, T J Abraham and Snehamayi Krishna about the decision of the component authority on the request of sanction of prosecution against Siddaramaiah, under section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 218 of Bharithiya Nagarika Suraksha Samhitha, 2023 for the commission of alleged offences mentioned in the petitions.
Sources told India TV that the Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has approved prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah after activist TJ Abraham urged the Governor to give approval to file a complaint against the CM in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment case.
No official communication, says CMO
In the meantime, the CMO sources said that no official information has been received from Raj Bhavan yet regarding approval for the prosecution.
Furthermore, Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has asked RTI activist TJ Abraham, who flagged the 'MUDA scam,' to meet him at Raj Bhavan at 3 PM on Saturday as permission from the Governor is required to prosecute a Chief Minister in a state.
What RTI activist said in complaint?
TJ Abraham, President of the Karnataka Anti-Graft and Environmental Forum, earlier filed a complaint saying that CM Siddaramaiah failed to disclose his wife’s ownership of the said land in his 2023 Assembly election affidavit.
It should be noted that the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is accused of exchange of a piece of land in his wife's name which was acquired by MUDA. Notably, his wife was given the land in a posh area of Mysuru and the market value of which is much more than his own land.
Abraham also alleged that the non-inclusion of the land details in his affidavit was "with his absolute knowledge and clearly with some ulterior motives" and also sought legal action against Siddaramaiah under Section 125A and Section 8 of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1950.
Recently, BJP had also taken out a march from Bengaluru to Mysuru demanding the resignation of the CM in this matter.
However, Siddaramaiah has repeatedly said that the Congress government led by him is ready to fight legally and politically, in case the Governor rejects the Cabinet's advice to withdraw the "showcause notice" to him, and grants permission for prosecution.
