High court grants Siddharamaiah interim relief from prosecution

Bengaluru: Following the Karnataka Governor's sanction on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's prosecution, the Karnataka High Court on Monday ordered the trial court to take no action, serving the CM some relief. The interim relief granted by the high court will be effective till August 29, and it will hear the case again, NDTV reported.

The Governor sanctioned the prosecution of the Congress CM on the alleged MUDA land scam case. After Governor Thawaar Chand Gehlot sanctioned the prosecution, Siddaramaiah moved the high court and demanded relief on the grounds that Chand's action was illegal and without the authority of law. Siddaramaiah argued that allowing his prosecution would result in grave and irreparable harm to his reputation, disrupt the governance of the state, and ultimately end up in political destabilization.

After this, the high court ruled that since the case was being heard and the pleading was yet to be completed, the trial court should defer from its proceedings.

The high court order said that the document submitted by the petitioner, Siddaramaiah, had "referred to several points of order... to prima facie demonstrate that (the) order (granting sanction to prosecute) bears non-application of mind (by the Governor)," NDTV quoted.

They further noted Siddaramaiah's submission that the Governor has sanctioned his prosecution at a breakneck speed just after a complaint was filed on July 26.'

The alleged MUDA scam focuses on the value of a piece of land which was allotted to the CM's wife, Parvathi, in an upmarket area of Mysuru as compensation for land elsewhere taken for infra development. As per the allegations by the critics, the value of land allotted grossly exceeds that taken by Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 crore.