A complaint has been filed against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and nine others for forging documents to claim compensation from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), Deccan Herald reported.
Social activist Snehamayi Krishna filed the complaint against Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, landowner Devaraj and six others, as per an ANI report.
The complainant also alleged the involvement of the deputy commissioner, tahsildar, deputy registrar, and MUDA officials, ANI reported.
The land allotted at 464, at Kesare village is categorised as agricultural land, which Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law B M Mallikarjun reportedly purchased from one Devaraju. In 2010, Mallikarjun gifted the land to his sister B M Parvathi, according to the complaint. MUDA acquired the land and developed it into a layout. The complaint's charge is that the sub registrar used fake sale deed and gift deed due to the influence of the Chief Minister, according to reports.
The MUDA scam pertains to allegations that some beneficiaries got more land than they were entitled. Some beneficiaries also got land allotted in alternative sites. The ‘guidance’ value of these sites was allegedly higher than the places where MUDA layouts came up. Guidance value is the minimum value of a land set by the government, below which the land cannot be registered.
The controversy arose following allegations by a retired official that MUDA had distributed sites on a 50:50 basis in alternative developed areas to non-compensated land owners illegally. This allegedly caused a loss of more than ₹1,000 crore to MUDA and the Karnataka government.
Under the scheme, Siddaramaiah’s wife was allotted 38,284 sq feet of alternate land, amounting to 14 housing sites in Vijayanagar area of Mysuru, by MUDA.
The opposition has asked CBI to investigate the matter. Opposition leader of the Karnataka State Legislative Assembly Ramaiah Ashoka has asked the Chief Minister to handover the case to the CBI.
“… if you have even a little bit of honesty, if you have any conscience, hand over Muda scam to CBI investigation immediately. Why are they afraid to give it to CBI when they have done nothing wrong?” Ashoka posted on X.
He alleged that more than a hundred files have disappeared, and the district collector has become the victim.
CM Siddaramaiah had earlier said the land was allotted by the previous BJP government to his wife Parvathi, as part of the "50:50" ratio scheme.
Besides the police complaint, Krishna has also written letters to the Karnataka governor, the state chief secretary and the principal secretary of the revenue department.
