Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court yesterday extended the deadline for the Mysuru Lokayukta Police to submit their investigation report into the MUDA site allotment scam to Jan. 28, 2025.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his wife B.M. Parvathi, her brother B.M. Mallikarjunswamy, and J. Devaraju are accused in the case. The Minister allegedly leveraged his influence to secure 14 MUDA sites in Vijayanagar Third and Fourth Stages for Parvathi in exchange for her 3.16-acre land in Kesare.                   While Devaraju was the original owner of the land, he sold it to Mallikarjunaswamy, who later gifted it to Parvathi.

The High Court’s decision overruled the Special Court for Elected Representatives, which had set Dec. 24 deadline for the Lokayukta’s progress report.

High Court presiding Judge Justice M. Nagaprasanna ordered the Lokayukta Police to withhold their investigation report until Jan. 28 to avoid potential conflicts of interest during the ongoing hearings.

Pause in investigation

The Judge further directed the Lokayukta to pause its investigation until the High Court concludes the final hearing on a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the scam.

The High Court’s extension followed a petition by Mysuru-based RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, who argued that the Lokayukta, being under the jurisdiction of the State Government, cannot ensure a fair probe. Krishna’s petition requested the High Court to transfer the investigation to the CBI.

“This Court will not permit a District Court to secure a report and pass orders while the matter is being heard here. To protect the proceedings, I deem it appropriate to extend the time for filing the final report,” stated Justice Nagaprasanna. The time for submitting the report was extended from Dec. 24 to Jan. 28, 2025.

No further extensions

During yesterday’s hearing, the Court was informed that notices had been served to the respondents, including Siddaramaiah and his wife. The Court scheduled the final arguments on Krishna’s plea for Jan. 15, 2025, directing all respondents to file their objections by then. It warned that no further extensions would be granted.

The High Court also observed that the investigation should be paused while the matter is under its jurisdiction. However, Siddaramaiah’s counsel, Ravivarma Kumar, argued that the ongoing investigation was unrelated to the High Court hearing and opposed any interference with the Lokayukta probe. He also objected to the Court taking suo motu actions in this regard.

Plea to make ED a party

Krishna’s petition, filed through senior advocate K.G. Raghavan, requested the High Court to prevent the Lokayukta Police from submitting their final report and to include the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as a respondent in the case.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Karnataka Government and Siddaramaiah, respectively, objected to the plea and were directed to file their objections by Jan. 15.

In September, the High Court dismissed Siddaramaiah’s plea challenging the Governor’s sanction for filing corruption cases against him. Subsequently, the Karnataka Lokayukta registered an FIR against Siddaramaiah and three others, charging them with corruption, cheating and forgery in connection with the MUDA site allotment scam.