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The police noted that the matter was civil in nature and did not warrant a criminal investigation
The Mysore Lokayukta Police have given a clean chit to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife B.M. Parvathi, and his brother-in-law B.M. Mallikarjuna Swamy in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam. A closure report is set to be filed in the Karnataka High Court, also clearing landowner J. Devaraju of any wrongdoing.
The final report, as per PTI, citing the lack of evidence against all accused individuals, has been submitted to the court. A communication has also been sent to activist and complainant Snehamayi Krishna by the Lokayukta Police, which has rendered the case unsuitable for a criminal investigation emphasising its civil nature.
The allegations against the Chief Minister's family stemmed from claims of corruption in MUDA's allocation of land to Parvathi. According to the complaint, Parvathi was “gifted” over three acres of land by her brother Swamy. The land was initially acquired by MUDA, later de-notified, and subsequently purchased by Swamy. Despite the land being privately owned, MUDA proceeded to develop it, raising concerns of irregularity. Swamy asserted that he legally acquired the land in 2004 and later gifted it to Parvathi.
The controversy intensified when, in January 2022, Parvathi allegedly received inflated compensation under MUDA’s 50:50 scheme, including 14 developed alternative plots of significantly higher value than the original three-acre property. The state government discontinued the said scheme in October 2023.
However, the Lokayukta police announced a further investigation into the broader allegations surrounding MUDA’s compensatory plot allocations under the 50:50 scheme between 2016 and 2024. An additional final report will be filed under Section 173(8) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), enabling continued investigation if new evidence emerges.
Notably, the Karnataka High Court had earlier, dismissed a plea to transfer the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), holding “Lokayukta to be an independent agency, competent to investigate into the allegations against high functionaries, including the Chief Minister of the State of Karnataka.”
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