Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking CBI probe into the controversial the MUDA land case involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, The Indian Express reported.
Stating that the investigation by the Lokayukta police is independent, the court reportedly observed that ‘a CBI probe is not a panacea for the projected ill’.
Going through the police report on the probe in the case, the bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna stated that the investigation ‘does not appear lopsided or shoddy’.
The RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna filed a plea seeking a CBI probe into the alleged ‘land grants made by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to Siddaramaiah’s family in 2021’.
Krishna reportedly argued that the Lokayukta police, as it is functioning under the state government, was not investigating the case effectively.
On September 25, 2024, a special court ordered a probe by the Lokayukta after the activist demanded probe by any agency including the Lokayukta or CBI.
On September 28, the activist approached the high court ahead of the Lokayukta registered an FIR, seeking a CBI probe.
Justice Nagaprasanna, taking on record the investigation report of Lokayukta police, reversed his order on the plea for CBI probe.
The MUDA case is all about MUDA allotting 14 sites worth Rs 56 crore to Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi after it ‘wrongfully’ acquired around 3.16 acres of land, a gift to her by her brother in 2010.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah refuted any wrong doing or corruption in allotting the housing sites to his wife who returned the lands to MUDA.
A division bench of high court will hear on March 22 an appeal by Siddaramaiah against a single-judge order on September 24, 2024, facilitating probe into in the alleged illegalities in the MUDA allotment.