Advocate to seek Guv’s nod for CM’s prosecution

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah could face legal troubles as T.J. Abraham, Advocate and President of the Anti-Graft/Corruption and Environmental Forum, Bengaluru and also an advocate, is set to meet Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot today, seeking the Governor’s consent for the prosecution of CM in connection with the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment scam.

“I will meet the Governor today (July 26) to request his sanction under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 17A and 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for prosecuting the Chief Minister,” Abraham said.

This action follows a complaint filed by Abraham with Lokayukta Police in Mysuru on July 18. The complaint to the Governor alleges the illegal allotment of 14 alternative compensatory sites in the upscale Vijayanagar area of Mysuru to CM Siddaramaiah’s wife, B.M. Parvathi, on Jan. 5, 2022. This purportedly resulted in a loss of Rs. 44,64,00,000 to the State Exchequer.

The complaint implicates several individuals, including CM Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi, MLC-son Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, then MUDA Commissioner Dr. D.B. Natesh, then MUDA Chairman H.V. Rajeev, former Mysuru Tahsildar Malige Shanker, former Sub-Registrar of Mysuru North S.K. Siddaiah, former Deputy Commissioner G. Kumar Naik (now Raichur MP), and former DC of Mysuru S. Selvakumar.

Abraham cited a precedent from B.S. Yediyurappa’s tenure as Chief Minister, where Governor Hansraj Bharadwaj granted consent in a denotification case. This led to an FIR, a trial, and Yediyurappa’s imprisonment in 2011. In that case, advocates Sirajin Basha and K.N. Balaraj had also sought the Governor’s consent for prosecution.

This post was published on July 26, 2024 8:41 pm