Lokayukta police here on Friday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case, following the court order, official sources said.
A Special Court in Bengaluru on Wednesday ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Siddaramaiah in the case, setting the stage for filing an FIR against him. Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, came to Siddaramaiah’s defence, stating that the party is standing with him and will support him.
Siddaramaiah, who began his three-day visit to his home district of Mysuru, claimed that he was being targeted in the MUDA issue as the opposition is “scared” of him and said it’s the first such “political case” against him. He also reiterated that he won’t resign following the court ordering a probe against him in the case as he has done no wrong and asserted that he would fight the case legally.
The order of the Special Court Judge, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, came a day after the High Court upheld the sanction granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on the allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife B M Parvathi by MUDA.
The Special Court exclusively to deal with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs issued the order directing the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to initiate an investigation on the complaint filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna.
The FIR included criminal conspiracy (section 120B), criminal breach of trust (section 406), cheating (section 420), forgery (section 468), and many other serious offenses under the Indian Penal Code Lokayukta police a they have Mysore work assigned to them leading the investigation.
The court has given the authorities three months to complete the investigation and submit a report as per the instructions issued under Section 173 of the CRPC.
Two days after the Karnataka High Court accepted Governor Thawarchand Gehlot’s nod for a probe, special court judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat ordered a probe. An inquiry under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Code has been ordered and the Lokayukta police have been directed to submit findings by December 24.
