The Karnataka High Court, on Wednesday, adjourned the hearing in a plea seeking a CBI probe into the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, till January 27.
The petition filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna seeking a CBI investigation in the alleged scam worth Rs 56,000 crore, is currently being probed by the Lokayukta police.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, who heard the plea has directed the Lokayukta to submit the investigation report to the court before January 27.
Earlier, Maninder Singh, counsel to the petitioner alleged that the original files pertaining to the case had gone missing from the MUDA office and some committee of IAS officers had taken the records pertaining to the case from the Lokayukta. "Investigation must be fair and independent and must inspire confidence. If higher police officials and politicians are involved, courts have felt reasonable discretion is to be exercised," said Singh.
The High Court directed the Lokayukta to submit the said records before the court by tomorrow (January 16).
After senior counsel Prof Ravivarma Kumar appearing for the chief minister said the pleadings were yet to be completed, the Court asked the Lokayukta to place on record the details of the investigation conducted till date while allowing the Lokayukta to continue the probe. The investigation will be overseen by the IGP of Lokayukta and the report filed a day before the next date of hearing.
It may be recalled that the Lokayukta police registered an FIR after the High Court dismissed the CM's petition challenging the Governor’s sanction order on September 24, paving the way for the trial court proceedings. Accordingly, the trial court had ordered the Lokayukta to file an FIR and investigate the MUDA case.
Siddaramaiah has not only petitioned the divisional bench against the single bench order (upholding the governor's sanction order) but also appealed against Snehamayi Krishna's plea for a CBI probe before the single bench of the high court. And the CM's wife (Pravathi) has voluntarily returned the 14 sites to the MUDA.
The Enforcement Directorate probing the money laundering charges in the MUDA case, in a letter to the Lokayukta police, has alleged large-scale irregularities in the land allotments made by MUDA under a 50:50 land compensation scheme.
In its last hearing, the single bench had deferred the district (trial) court from accepting the Lokayukta report on the stipulated date (December 24, 2024) stating it would frustrate proceedings before the high court.