ED probes Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah amidst MUDA housing site controversy

​The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering complaint against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah concerning the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case following a Lokayukta FIR.

According to sources, the Karnataka Lokayukta filed a First Information Report (FIR), upon which an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was recorded on Sep 30.

"We have the relevant case details and details of the FIR in our possession. The offenses fall under the schedule of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)," a senior official of ED said.

In addition to more severe tactics of coercion, the Chief Minister and his family's properties may be attached upon the registration of an ED case.

On Sep 27, in relation to the purported 2021 allocation of 14 MUDA housing sites to the chief minister's wife, Siddaramaiah and three other individuals were arrested by the Karnataka Lokayukta police on allegations of corruption, cheating, and forgery.

A special court for elected representatives on Sep 25 referred a private complaint by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna to the Lokayukta police unit in Mysuru, which is why the agency filed the first information report (FIR).

In addition to Siddaramaiah, the other names mentioned in the FIR are his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, his wife B M Parvathi, and a previous landowner called Devaraju, from whom Swamy had acquired land and given it to Parvathi.

This follows the Sep 24 approval of Governor Thawarchand Gehlot's consent for three private citizens to bring lawsuits against the chief minister under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act by the Karnataka High Court.

The complainant in this instance had also approached the ED for additional action after the Lokayukta FIR was filed.

However, according to agency sources, the central agency was already working on the issue.

The Karnataka chief minister and his relatives are charged with profiting from the MUDA land exchange scheme. According to the allegations, Siddaramaiah's wife received 3.16 acres of land outside of Mysuru as a gift from her brother in 2010.

These acres were allegedly exchanged for 14 housing sites in a desirable Mysuru neighborhood through a 50:50 exchange plan established during the BJP’s rule.

According to the activists who sought the governor and the special court, the alleged illicit land swap resulted in a state loss of ₹56 crore.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah's wife, Parvathi, has written to MUDA requesting that the sale deeds for the alternate plots given to her be cancelled.

The Chief Minister's Office issued the letter, addressed to the MUDA Commissioner, on Sep 30 evening.

It was reported that MUDA had given her alternate sites of varying sizes at Vijayanagar's third and fourth stages in Mysuru in exchange for using her 3-acre, 16-gunta land without acquiring it.

"I would like to restore the sites granted to me by requesting MUDA to invalidate the sale deeds of the 14 sites it had granted in my favor. I am returning the sites in my possession back to MUDA,” the letter stated.

In another statement, Parvathi said that she was hurt by the charges regarding the alternate sites assigned by MUDA. Noting that her brother had given her the land, she expressed surprise that it had become such a problem.

“I don’t know what my husband’s opinion is about the issue. I have not discussed it either with my son or other members of my family. Some may ask why I decided at this juncture,” she said.

“I had decided on the day the allegations surfaced. But, since some well-wishers told me that the issue was politically motivated and we had to fight this injustice, I had decided not to return the sites,” she continued, adding that she was determined to return the sites.

She also wanted a probe into all of the claims made against her. She requested that the state's major parties not pull her into a scandal.

Previously, Siddaramaiah said that he was being targeted in the MUDA case because the opposition was "scared" of him.

He also said that he would not resign when the court ordered a probe into the case since he had done nothing wrong and that he would defend the case legally.

The Congress also slammed the BJP-led central government, claiming that the ED and other national investigation agencies have become Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "instrument of harassment and vendetta" against political opponents.

Two Chief Ministers, Hemant Soren of Jharkhand and Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, were detained earlier this year in relation to cases brought by the ED. After spending time behind bars for several months, both were recently granted bail.