MUDA Case: How Siddaramiah Got Pushed to the Brink of Resignation - A Timeline

Bengaluru: In a major setback for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday (September 24), rejected his plea against prosecution in the MUDA Scam. The High Court also cancelled the interim order issued to register a case based on an individual complaint. The verdict is by a single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna. As per reports, the Chief Minister is likely to move the Supreme Court in the case.

The case came to light after allegations emerged regarding the potential misuse of compensatory residential site allotments by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), involving land previously owned by Parvathi Siddaramaiah, wife of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The opposition and the BJP are now demanding the Congress leader's resignation.

However, Siddaramaiah had challenged the approval given by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot for an investigation against him in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in a prime locality. After completing the hearings on the petition in six sittings from August 19, the single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna on September 12 reserved its verdict. It had also extended its August 19 interim order directing the special court for people's representatives that was slated to hear complaints against him in the case, to defer its proceedings till the disposal of the petition.

What is MUDA Scam?

In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife B M Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA. The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme instead of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.

Documents accessed by Republic Kannada earlier this year showed the names of the requested sites or prime properties asked by Siddaramaiah’s wife were erased using a whitener. CM Siddaramaiah admitted that the whitener was used but denied wrongdoings and tweeted a ‘torch video’ claiming that the prime land was not mentioned by his wife.

Will Siddaramaiah Resign?

Amid this major setback, will the Karnataka CM resign from his post? While no official statement has been given on whether the Karnataka CM will tender his resignation or not, the Bhartiya Janata Party ( BJP ) has urged the Congress leader to step down from the top post.

In a post on X, the BJP Karnataka wing said, “If Siddaramaiah has any respect for the law of this land, for the constitution, for the court, he should not continue his corruption and bow down to the court's decision and resign from the post of CM immediately."

Furthermore, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a post said, "Satyameva Jayate. Big set back to CM Karnataka in ₹5000cr Muda Scam. Petition dismissed. Governor Thawarchand Gehlot decision upheld. But Congress abused and attacked SC samaj & threatened Governor because he comes from that community ! No option now but for Siddharamiah ji to resign. Congress is Brashtachar ki Dukaan & does SC Samaj ka Apman. Rahul Gandhi must tell us if he will get Siddharamiah to step down!"

Siddaramaiah Denies Allegations of Scam 

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah however rejected the scam allegations in connection with receiving expensive land in the name of his wife from Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), claiming that the land was illegally taken from her by the authoritiy. He asserted that his wife, Parvathi Siddaramaiah, was entitled to compensation.

MUDA Scam: A Timeline

September 1992: Preliminary notification was issued for acquiring Ninga's land measuring 3.16 acres to form the third phase of the Devanur Layout.

February 1998- Final notification was issued.

May 1998- Land was denotified from the acquisition process.

2001: The denotified land was utilised to form the Devanur Layout, while all the sites were allotted.

November 2003: Land restored in name of its original owner's name.

2004: Siddaramaiah's brother-in-law Mallikarjunaswamy buys the 3.16 acres of land.

July 2005: Mallikarjunaswamy-owned land was converted for 'non-agricultural' use.

October 2010: Mallikarjunaswamy gifts 3.16 acres of land to his sister, Parvathi.

June 2014: Parvathi sought compensation against her land being used by the MUDA.

December 2017: The MUDA admitted the use of denotified land for the layout and decided to offer alternative sites to Siddaramaiah’s wife.

November 2020:  MUDA agreed to provide alternative sites on a 50:50 basis, meaning Parvathi would receive half the land as developed plots.

October 2021: Parvathi submitted another petition to MUDA, requesting alternative sites as compensation.

January 2022: Parvathi was allocated 14 plots in Vijayanagar.

October 2023: The Karnataka government abolished the 50:50 scheme.

July 4, 2024:m  Siddaramaiah requested ₹62 crore in compensation, asserting that his land had been taken unlawfully.

July 14, 2024: The state government established a one-man inquiry commission to investigate the alleged irregularities.

July 24, 2024: Karnataka Speaker UT Khader denied a request to discuss the alleged MUDA "scam" in the state Assembly.

July 26, 2024: The Governor issued a show-cause notice to Siddaramaiah following a petition from social activist TJ Abraham.

August 1, 2024: The state cabinet urged the Governor to retract the show-cause notice against Siddaramaiah.

August 3, 2024: Siddaramaiah responded to the Governor's notice, denying all allegations.

August 3-10, 2024: Opposition parties, including the BJP and JD(S), organized a foot march to Mysuru.

August 16, 2024: The Governor approved an investigation into the Chief Minister.

August 19, 2024: Siddaramaiah filed a plea in the High Court contesting the Governor's sanction for prosecution under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

September 24, 2024: The Karnataka High Court dismissed Siddaramaiah's petition challenging the Governor's prosecution sanction.