MUDA scam: The Karnataka government on Sunday formed an inquiry commission to probe the alleged alternative site scam in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). The state government's action follows allegations that MUDA fraudulently allocated plots to land losers, including some plots allocated to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife, Parvathi.
According to the notification issued by the government late Sunday night, Justice P N Dessai, a retired Karnataka High Court judge, will head the single-member commission. The commission will be required to complete the inquiry and submit its report to the state government within six months.
The departments concerned and the MUDA officials will have to cooperate with the investigation by providing the necessary documents and information to Justice Desai, the order said.
'I hope truth will come out'
Taking to X, Siddaramaiah wrote, "Allegations are being heard against the allotment of Muda land, and with the hope of conducting a transparent and impartial investigation, the state government has formed a single-member inquiry commission under the leadership of Hon'ble Karnataka High Court retired Judge Shri P N Desai."
"I hope the case will be thoroughly investigated and the truth will come out," he added.
Siddaramaiah repeatedly denied the allegation and claimed that MUDA "illegally" took over the four acres of land belonging to his wife and formed a layout without her permission.
What is MUDA scam?
Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, owned 3 acres of land in Kesare village of Mysuru. This land was acquired by MUDA for development, and compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru. It is alleged that the plot allotted to the Parvathi had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 per cent of developed land to the land loser in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts.
The BJP has raised doubts about the claim saying how can MUDA touch such a "high profile" property. The party has pegged the size of the scam somewhere around Rs 3,000 crore.
Complaint against Siddaramaiah, others
A complaint was filed by social activist Snehamayi Krishna against CM Siddaramaiah and nine others for allegedly forging documents to claim compensation from the MUDA. The complainant alleged wrongdoings by Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathy, his brother-in-law Malikarjuna Swamy Devaraj, who claimed to be a landowner and his family. It further alleged that MUDA cheated by creating fake documents and obtaining plots worth crores of rupees.
Snehamayi Krishna has raised several questions in his complaint.BJP has alleged a scam of more than Rs 5000 crores in the alleged MUDA scam and has demanded the investigation to be handed over to CBI.
(With agencies input)
