BENGALURU, 19 DEC

The Karnataka High Court has postponed the filing of the Lokayukta police probe report into the MUDA site allotment case involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife, Parvathi BM.

Siddaramaiah faces allegations of irregularities in the allocation of 14 plots by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to Parvathi. The court's decision follows a plea requesting the investigation to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal, representing Siddaramaiah and the Karnataka government, expressed their intention to contest the transfer plea.

Justice M Nagaprasanna, presiding over the case, previously issued an interim order to halt proceedings in the trial court, sparking objections from the petitioner's legal team. In response, the court ruled, "This court will not permit a district court to secure and act on the Lokayukta report while the matter is under its consideration," extending the deadline for the final report to 28 January 2025.

The FIR, filed by the Lokayukta police on 27 September, includes Siddaramaiah, his family members, and others involved in the transfer of land to Parvathi. Allegations suggest that 14 compensatory plots were improperly allocated in a higher-value area of Mysuru, although Parvathi purportedly had no legal title to the land involved. Following the controversy, Parvathi requested MUDA to cancel the allotments, which the authority accepted.  -PTI