The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, questioning the legality of approval granted by the Governor for investigation against him in the alleged illegalities in the allotment 14 sites to his wife in a layout in Mysuru city by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Justice M. Nagaprasanna reserved the order after completion of the arguments on behalf of Mr. Siddaramaiah, and three complainants — Abraham T.J, Snehamayi Krishna, and Pradeep Kumar S.P. — to whom the Governor had granted approval to seek an order from the trial court for conducting investigation against the Chief Minister.
‘No illegality’
Earlier, in response to the arguments made on behalf of the complainants, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Mr. Siddaramaiah, said that there were no illegalities in either denotifcation of land acquired by MUDA or allotment of 14 sites as alternative land for unauthorisedly utilising the land owned by Parvathi, wife of Mr. Siddaramaiah, for the formation of Devanur 3rd stage layout.
Mr. Singhvi argued that the Governor’s order of granting approval for investigation had failed to show any credible material to connect Mr. Siddaramaiah to any of the developments either in the government or in the MUDA that resulted in allotment o 14 sites to his wife.
Was in Opposition
In fact, Mr. Siddaramaiah was in the Opposition when MUDA finally handed over the sites to his wife and he never ever held any portfolio related to MUDA or signed any official paper in this regard, Mr. Singhvi argued.
The final round of arguments commended around noon and concluded around 6.20 p.m. as the judge had made clear that arguments on behalf of all the parties would have to conclude on Thursday.
Published - September 12, 2024 09:04 pm IST
