Karnataka is gearing up for another tectonic shift in the state’s political landscape with Governor Thawarchand Gehlot granting permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam. While the ruling Congress calls it the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “big ploy” to destabilise the state government, the ruling party and the chief minister are preparing for a long legal battle.
The governor, in a six-page letter (August 17, 2024), has stated that he accords sanction against Siddaramaiah under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 for the commission of offences as mentioned in the petitions of social activist T.J. Abraham, Pradeep Kumar S.P, and Snehamayi Krishna.
The sanction order, elaborating on the petitions, stated that Abraham had sought prosecution under Sections 7,9, 11, 12 and 15 of the PC Act and Sections 56, 61, 62, 201, 227, 228, 229, 239, 314, 316(5), 318 (1)(2)(3), 319, 322, 324, 324(1)(2)(3), 335, 336, 338, and 340 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, and had provided 29 documents in support of the allegations. Two other petitioners have also made the same allegations.
It may be recalled that on July 26, Abraham, in his complaint to the governor had sought sanction to prosecute the CM alleging Siddaramaiah's family was involved in the scam as 14 alternative compensatory sites were illegally allotted to CM’s wife B.M. Parvati on January 5, 2022 causing a loss of Rs 45 crore to the state’s coffers. The governor has issued a show-cause notice to the chief minister on the same day.
The state cabinet, which met on August 1, under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar (after the CM had recused himself), had passed a resolution advising the governor to withdraw the show-cause notice and to reject the petition filed by the RTI activist. The chief minister also replied to the notice on August 3, denying the allegations.
The governor noted that a committee chaired by an IAS officer Venkatachalapthy was formed to look into the matter and subsequently, the government also appointed a high-level single-member judicial inquiry commission (Justice P.N. Desai panel) to probe the matter. “It appears from the terms of reference of the high-level inquiry committee that there are serious allegations involving illegal allotment of alternative sites, illegal allotment of land, and irregularities in allocation of land. The constitution of a committee under an IAS officer and immediately constituting a judicial inquiry committee, and the government’s own acceptance that there is a potential big-ticket scam in the allotment of MUDA sites does not inspire much confidence. It is a well settled legal principle that the person against whom allegations are made, should not be empowered to decide the course of action,” reasoned the governor.
On the question of the council of ministers advising the governor, Gehlot highlighted that the sanction was being sought against the chief minister and the cabinet decision advising him to withdraw the notice did not inspire confidence to act on such advice.
“The subject of binding of the advice of the council of ministers for governor and discretionary power of the governor during special circumstances is well discussed and decided in the case of Madhya Pradesh Police establishment versus State of Madhya Pradesh (2004), where the five-member bench of the apex court has held that if governor cannot act in his own discretion and refuse sanction inspite of overwhelming material showing that a prima facie case is made out, there would be a complete breakdown of rule of law. Democracy itself will be at stake. It would lead to a state where people in power would break the law with impunity, safe in the knowledge that they will not be prosecuted,” said the governor.
Further, the governor acknowledged there were two versions of the matter and it was necessary that a “neutral, objective, and non-partisan” investigation should be conducted.
“I am prima facie satisfied that the allegations and the supporting material disclose commission of offences,” concluded the governor citing the reason for issuing the permission for prosecution, two days after he had hosted the chief minister and his ministers at the customary high tea party at the Raj Bhavan, on the occasion of Independence Day.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is in the eye of a political storm, after Governor Thawarchand Gehlot gave sanction to prosecute him in the MUDA site allotment scam, said the governor’s decision was “unconstitutional” and that he would fight it out in the court.
Siddaramaiah, who surprisingly turned up at the palace grounds on Saturday noon to attend a felicitation ceremony organised by the state government employees to thank the CM for approving the seventh pay commission recommendations recently, said it was a big “ploy” to destabilise an elected government.
“The BJP and JDS are hand in glove. The governor’s decision is unconstitutional and we will question his decision in the court of law. All the Congress MLAs, ministers, MLCs, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members of my party and the party high command are with me. I have not done anything wrong that warrants my resignation,” said Siddaramaiah, who demanded to know why the governor had not accorded sanction against Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and former BJP minister Shashikala Jolle among others who have had similar complaints against them.
Interestingly, AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who landed in Bengaluru from Delhi said he was “yet to go through” the governor’s sanction order. “I am unaware of the reasons by the governor for granting sanction. It is advisable to go through the order and seek legal opinion before making any statement. However, we have seen that the governors in the non-BJP-ruled states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka have been harassing the chief ministers. The Centre has been humiliating and harassing the chief ministers of non-BJP-ruled states,” said Kharge. Kharge remained non-committal when asked if the party high command would stand by the chief minister. “I will look into it and then respond,” said Kharge.
Even as the cabinet ministers have been making a beeline to Siddaramaiah’s house and addressing the press to express their solidarity with their leader, Kharge refused to respond to a question on CM’s resignation. “I cannot say on what basis is the opposition demanding the CM’s resignation. I don’t know the reason and without knowing the reason if I react, it is not good,” he added.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah’s cabinet colleagues, who had planned to have an emergency cabinet meeting, chose to address a press conference instead.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, flanked by ministers, in a press conference said that the chief minister would not yield to any pressure and the Congress party in the state stands united.
“There is no question of our chief minister resigning. The sanction order is unconstitutional and against the law. The BJP is trying to make a case where there is none. The Congress party will solidly stand behind our chief minister and we are prepared to fight a legal battle. It is a conspiracy to destabilise our government. The BJP has hatched a conspiracy by misusing the office of the governor. This is against a backward class leader who became a chief minister not once but twice. The BJP is unable not able to tolerate our pro-people stand. There are ample examples where the Supreme Court has given a ruling on how the governor's office should behave. Our cabinet had passed a resolution urging the governor to dismiss the petition against the CM. But the governor has not considered our plea,” said Shivakumar.
State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra urged the chief minister to resign immediately to maintain the dignity of the chief minister’s office and for the sake of justice. “The governor has exercised his constitutional powers to authorize legal action against the CM in the MUDA scam. Given the substantial evidence and serious allegations of corruption and favouritism within the ruling Congress, it is crucial the CM steps down. Resigning from the post would allow for a transparent and unbiased investigation,” added Vijayendra who had led the eight-day joint Padayatra of the BJP and the JDS (from Bengaluru to Mysuru), along with Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, last week and demanded the CM’s resignation and a CBI probe into the “rampant corruption” in the MUDA.
Two separate petitions filed before the special court for the elected representatives will come up for hearing on August 20 and 21. Siddaramaiah’s next move will certainly alter the internal dynamics within a party that boasts of a long list of CMs-in-waiting. The state, which has witnessed political turmoil in 2011 when then BJP Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had to step down following corruption charges, is certainly bracing for a deja vu moment.