Karnataka govt. "strongly urges" Governor to withdraw "show cause notice" to CM

Bengaluru, Aug 1 (PTI) The Karnataka government on Thursday "strongly advised" the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw his "show-cause notice" to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam' and alleged a concerted effort to destabilise the Congress regime.
The Council of Ministers discussed the show-cause notice, and alleged "gross misuse of the Constitutional Office '' of the Governor and said a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations.
Based on a petition filed by advocate-activist T J Abraham, the Governor issued the notice on July 26 directing the Chief Minister to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days as to why permission for prosecution should not be granted against him.
"...Hence, the request of the petitioner needs to be processed as per provisions of section 17(A) and 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023...", the Governor had said in his notice to the Chief Minister.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Governor failed to take note of the fact that Abraham comes with criminal antecedents having criminal cases of blackmail and extortion registered against him.
The Council strongly urges the Governor to withdraw the notice and to proceed forthwith to reject the application for sanction filed by Abraham, he said. "I am hopeful that the Governor will withdraw the notice, and will uphold the dignity of his office in spite of any pressure."
Shivakumar said it expressed the view that the Governor in issuing the "show-cause notice" has acted in undue haste, throwing to wind all procedural requirements.
He described the Governor's decision as a "murder of democracy and the Constitution''. "There is no case for prosecution here."
In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA "scam" is of the magnitude of Rs 4000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
The Congress government on July 14 constituted a single member inquiry commission under former High Court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.
The Chief Minister skipped today's meeting of the Council of Ministers and authorised Shivakumar to chair it.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said since the Cabinet was slated to discuss the notice issued to him by the Governor, Ministers requested the Chief Minister not to attend it.
Earlier today, Siddaramaiah held discussions with Cabinet colleagues regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high command’s directions on the issue, at a breakfast meeting.
Siddaramaiah along with Shivakumar on Tuesday met Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)