Lokayukta police question Siddaramaiah for 2 hours in Muda case
Siddaramaiah arrived at the Lokayukta office on Dewan’s Road in Mysuru around 10 am. The session ended shortly after noon, with security tightened around the area through road barricades and additional police presence.
The Karnataka Lokayukta police questioned chief minister Siddaramaiah for two hours on Wednesday in connection with alleged irregularities in a land allotment case, compounding the problems for the embattled Congress leader.
Siddaramaiah arrived at the Lokayukta office on Dewan’s Road in Mysuru around 10 am. The session ended shortly after noon, with security tightened around the area through road barricades and additional police presence.
“The Lokayukta police questioned me, and I answered all their questions. They recorded everything and later read it back to me. Everything went smoothly. A fake case was filed against me, but I told them the truth. They haven’t asked me to appear again,” the CM said, denying any wrongdoing in the case.
According to the police, the interrogation was conducted by three officers and involved a detailed review of the site allotment procedures. The entire session was video recorded, they added.
The case involves allegations of irregularities in a 2020 land allotment to Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (Muda). The Lokayukta’s first information report, filed on September 27, lists Siddaramaiah as the main accused and Parvathi BM as the second accused, alleging wrongful site allotments by Muda.
Parvathi was questioned by the Lokayukta on October 25. The FIR also named Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law, Mallikarjuna Swamy, and Devaraju, who allegedly sold the land to Swamy before it was allegedly transferred to Parvathi.
The FIR invoked Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), Section 166 (disobeying the law with intent to cause injury), Section 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), Section 406 (criminal breach of trust), and Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. It also included charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, and the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act.
The controversy revolves around land acquisition and compensation in Mysuru’s Devanur 3rd stage layout. The disputed land is a 3.16 acre plot, which Siddaramaiah says was gifted to Parvathi by Mallikarjuna, in 1998.
In 2014, when Siddaramaiah was CM, Parvathi applied for compensation for the land after Muda allegedly took over the land for development without her permission.
In 2017, Muda agreed to compensate her, and in 2022, she was given 14 residential plots amounting to a total of 38,284 square feet in the prime Vijayanagar 3rd and 4th stage layouts.
The complainants argued these 14 plots – in the heart of Karnataka’s second-largest city – were far more valuable than the original land, under MUDA’s 50:50 scheme. After the controversy came to light, Siddaramiah offered to return the 14 plots if his wife was given ₹62 crore as compensation.
The Muda 50:50 scheme, announced in 2016, entailed offering 50% of the developed sites as compensation to the original land owners. The controversial scheme was scrapped in 2023.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged protests across Karnataka in response to Siddaramaiah’s Lokayukta appearance, calling for his resignation . Demonstrators held placards, chanted slogans, and criticised the police for allegedly attempting to curb their protests.
Opposition leader R. Ashoka voiced dissatisfaction with the Lokayukta probe, insisting on the need for a Central Bureau of Investigation intervention.
“I am not satisfied with the Lokayukta inquiry...Only CBI inquiry can give the correct information regarding what happened in the Muda case. That’s why we demand CBI inquiry,” Ashoka said.
Siddaramaiah questioned the BJP’s motives. “Why is the BJP protesting against me with ‘Go Back’ slogans? Are they against a court order? The court ordered an inquiry—are they opposing the investigation? They have made false allegations against me, but now the truth will come out,” he said.
Siddaramaiah also commented on BJP’s call for CBI involvement, maintaining that the Lokayukta operates as an independent entity. “Under whose control is the CBI? Has the BJP ever transferred a case to the CBI? Who pressured the Lokayukta? Lokayukta is an independent agency. They say CBI is independent, Lokayukta is independent at state level. The BJP doesn’t respect law and now they are raising doubts against the Lokayukta. So, do they not believe in the legal process? Have they ever referred a case to the CBI?” he said