Bengaluru/New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate has initiated a probe into the role of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and his wife for possible money laundering in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) land allotment case following the recent FIR lodged by the state Lokayukta.
According to sources, the anti-money laundering agency accepted a complaint filed by Mysuru-based RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna seeking registration of a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and an investigation “into the misuse of official powers by Siddaramaiah and illegal allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi”. Accordingly, an ECIR, equivalent of a police FIR, was registered.
The RTI activist cited the high court order which had upheld Karnataka governor Thawarchand Gehlot’s decision to sanction a probe into the scam allegedly involving the CM and his family. “The high court of Karnataka has raised serious doubts with respect to the allotment of sites in favour of the CM’s wife, and the HC in its wisdom has concluded that the subject matter requires investigation. The HC has also gone to the extent of narrating the windfall gain due to the allotment of sites in favour of Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi,” Krishna's complaint read.
ED has pressed sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act to book Siddaramaiah in its ECIR.
Congress slammed the Centre over the ED action. Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “It is no secret that ED has become an instrument of harassment, vendetta, revenge and vengeance on his political opponents by the PM. The people of Karnataka rejected him resoundingly in May 2023 and he has not forgotten that humiliation. We have nothing whatsoever to fear. The CM of Karnataka will be vindicated.”
