Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court Monday asked a special court hearing private complaints against chief minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (Muda) site allotment controversy, to defer its proceedings and not to take any precipitative action till the next date of hearing on Aug 29.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed this interim order after the court was told that the trial court is scheduled to pass orders on the private complaints lodged against the CM on Aug 20. The judge was hearing a writ petition filed by the CM challenging the legality of the order of the governor granting sanction to prosecute him in the alleged land scam.
Responding to BJP protests calling for his resignation, Siddaramaiah said, “My conscience is clear. I first became minister 40 years ago, and since then, there has not been a single black spot in my political life. My political life is like an open book. The people of the state know that I have not done anything wrong, so there is no question of resigning.”
On Aug 17, Karnataka governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot had accorded sanction for prosecution under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), citing three applications. The complainants had alleged that the CM had misused his official position to get alternative sites allotted in his wife’s name on the strength of certain fake documents in the layout formed by Muda.
Appearing for Siddaramaiah, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted that though the governor is bound by the advice of the cabinet, he not only ignored the cabinet’s advice in this case but also passed a two-page order according sanction.
Describing the sanction as “laconic, unreasoned, and issued without application of mind,” Singhvi claimed that though there were 12 similar applications seeking sanction pending with the governor from a few months to three years, no decision was taken on them.
Singhvi submitted that the “friendly governor plucked the application filed by his blue-eyed boy TJ Abraham the same day it was submitted and issued a show-cause notice to the petitioner on July 26, 2024.”
He added that if sanctions are accorded like this, there is no need for Article 356 of the Constitution (used for imposing President’s rule) to destabilise govts.
