MUDA Case Updates
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, a Special Court in Bengaluru ordered the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to file a criminal complaint against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others for allegedly breaking the law when the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) awarded his wife 14 sites valued at ₹56 crore.
The court ordered the Superintendent of Police of the Lokayukta police to cite several laws’ prohibitions on land grabbing, benami properties, and corruption prevention.
In addition to directing the Superintendent of Police to produce the investigation report within three months, the Special Court exercised its authority under Section 153 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC).
MUDA Case
On a private complaint filed by Snehamayi Krishna of Mysuru, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, the judge of the Special Court that solely handles criminal issues pertaining to elected former and sitting MPs/MLAs in Karnataka, gave the directive.
The complaint names Parvathi B.M., Mr. Siddaramaiah’s wife; B.M. Mallikarjuna Swamy, Ms. Parvathi’s brother; and J. Devaraj, from whom Mr. Swamy had acquired three acres and sixteen guntas of land, despite MUDA having created the plan and assigned locations to different recipients on that land.
The Special Court issued the order in response to the Karnataka High Court’s September 24, 2024, reversal of its previous interim ruling, which had instructed the Special Court to put the private complaint on hold until the High Court made a decision regarding Mr. Siddaramaiah’s petition. The Chief Minister had contested in his plea the Governor’s authorization to launch an investigation against him in accordance with Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The High Court concluded that an investigation was necessary due to the claims’ facts, even though it upheld the Governor’s approval. The Lokayukta police have been instructed by the Special Court to cite the following legal provisions in the first information report (FIR) that is filed against the accused individuals: Sections 166 (public servant disregarding legislation with intent to injure any person) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) The Indian Penal Code contains several pertinent sections, including 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 340 (wrongful imprisonment), and 351 (assault).
The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Sections 9 (offense linked to bribery a public official by a commercial organization) and 13 (criminal misbehavior by a public servant), as well as the Prohibition of Benami provisions, were also to be invoked by the police.
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