'MUDA illegally allotted 1,095 sites; CM Siddaramaiah's wife projected acquired land as untainted gift', ED probe unearths

The Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) has illegally allotted a total of 1,095 sites in ‘benami’ (proxy) and other unauthorised transactions that amount to over Rs 700 crore, said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its communication to Karnataka Lokayukta that’s is probing the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 residential sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife B.M. Parvathi. 

The ED, which is investigating the MUDA case (under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act) has conveyed to the Lokayukta that it has found “evidence” of several irregularities in the transfer of 14 sites to Parvathi, including contravention of statutory guidelines, tampering with documents, and exerting undue influence. 

According to ED, Siddaramaiah's personal assistant S.G. Dinesh Kumar had wielded undue influence in the process of allotment and CM's brother-in-law, Mallikarjuna Swamy, who is accused No 3 in the MUDA case, was also involved in the irregularities. 

The ED found that 1,946 of 5,000 high-security bond papers, used by the MUDA to issue allotment letters were missing, and alleged that these may have been used to issue fraudulent allotment letters. Prashant Raju, personal assistant to former MUDA Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar had withdrawn these bond papers though he had no authority, it found. 

ED also pointed out that many documents were tampered with, including a compensation letter submitted to MUDA by Parvathi on June 14, 2014 as it had a whitener lining to erase a sentence with no authentication of the alteration. The then MUDA Commissioner had himself selected the sites to be allotted.

Elaborating that the scam involved MUDA officials, including the then commissioner, who was involved in illegal allotments, the ED stated there was a "deep-rooted nexus" between MUDA officers, real estate businessmen, and influential persons. 

"Most of the allotments have been made in the name of benami or dummy persons in the guise of land losers. However, the beneficiaries of these illegal allotments are real estate businessmen and influential persons," the ED probe found.

The ED is probing money laundering charges against Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi, CM's brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju, from whom Mallikarjuna Swamy purchased the land and gifted it to Parvathi, based on an FIR filed by the Karnataka Lokayukta police.

It may be recalled that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Parvathi in a prime locality in Mysuru (Vijayanagar III and IV stage) and the sites had higher market value compared to her land reportedly “acquired” by the MUDA. The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme as compensation for the 3.16 acres of land acquired by it to develop a residential layout. 

While, the chief minister has denied any “wrongdoing” by him or his family members, during the questioning by the Lokayukta, the ED highlighted that when the sites were allotted to Parvathi, her son Yathindra was the Varuna MLA and a member of the MUDA board, and Siddaramaiah was the leader of opposition. 

The investigations also revealed that Dinesh Kumar alias C.T. Kumar (CM's PA) wielded "undue" influence in the MUDA office and had "forged" signatures and "influenced" the process of allotment of sites to Parvathi. And, the land was "illegally" denotified based on incorrect facts and under influence. Subsequently, the land was purchased by Mallikarjuna Swamy as agricultural land though MUDA had not only taken up construction on the said land but also allotted sites before Devaraju sold the land to Mallikarjun Swamy. 

“The entire procedure of conversion of the 3.16 acres of land (at survey number 464 of Kesare village, Kasaba Hobli of Mysuru taluk) for non-agricultural purpose was a ‘sham’,” stated ED adding that Siddaramaiah was the deputy chief minister of the state when the land conversion was being done. 

The revenue administration – village accountant, surveyor, revenue inspector, tahsildar and deputy commissioner, who had visited the land in question for inspection did not mention MUDA had already undertaken construction at the site in its inspection report. 

"The entire process of denotification, purchase of the land, and its subsequent conversion for non-agricultural purposes were all along devised under the influence to obtain possession of prime land at a layout being developed by MUDA, which was subsequently gifted to Parvathi, who projected the illegal land acquired through influence as 'untainted' property acquired through gift," the ED has observed.