A special court in Bengaluru on Wednesday accepted the closure report submitted by the Karnataka Lokayukta Police in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment case involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, her brother Mallikarjuna Swamy, and landowner J Devaraj.
The order was passed by the Special Judge for cases involving Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly, Santosh Gajanan Bhat, in open court.
Upon perusal of the material placed on record, the court concluded that no prima facie case of corruption or criminal misconduct was established against the four individuals named in the closure report.
Accepting the ‘B report’ filed under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the Court observed that the evidence collected during the investigation was insufficient to sustain allegations under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988, or allied provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court, however, made it explicit that the acceptance of the closure report was confined to these accused alone and would not impede the continuation of the probe against other persons implicated in the broader MUDA allotment controversy.
The investigating officer was accordingly directed to complete further investigation against the remaining accused and submit a final report upon conclusion of the probe, in compliance with procedural requirements.
The special court further declined to entertain an application moved by the complainant seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the investigating officer, finding no grounds to suggest wilful disobedience of judicial directions or interference with the administration of justice.
Regarding the role of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), it clarified that the central agency may participate in the proceedings only as an affected party and that its intervention would remain circumscribed by the statutory framework governing money laundering investigations. This observation aligned with settled jurisprudence limiting parallel agency participation in predicate offence proceedings unless statutorily warranted.
The MUDA case stems from allegations that Siddaramaiah, while holding public office, abused his official position to facilitate irregular allotment of compensatory sites in favour of his wife, purportedly in deviation from established land acquisition and rehabilitation norms. The complaint, filed by activist Snehamayi Krishnan, alleged non-compliance with statutory procedures governing compensation allotments by the urban development authority.
In September 2024, the Governor of Karnataka had accorded sanction for prosecution under Article 163 read with applicable provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, following which the special court directed registration of an FIR against Siddaramaiah and the other accused. The offences invoked included provisions relating to criminal misconduct by a public servant, conspiracy, and abuse of official position.
After conducting the investigation, the Lokayukta Police submitted a closure report in February 2025, concluding that the essential ingredients required to attract penal liability were not made out against the four accused. The report had been deferred earlier, pending further scrutiny of alleged systemic irregularities in MUDA land allotments involving other beneficiaries.
With the acceptance of the closure report, the court directed its registry to return the compact disc files and the draft final report that had been maintained in a sealed cover, after due verification, to the investigating officer.
The matter is now listed for further consideration on February 9, when the final report pertaining to the remaining accused is expected to be placed before the Court.
The post MUDA land allotment case: Bengaluru Court accepts Lokayukta closure report on CM Siddaramaiah appeared first on India Legal.