Bengaluru: In a move that could deepen troubles for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed an objection at the Special Court for Elected Representatives, Bengaluru, urging the rejection of the Lokayukta probe report on the distribution of alternative sites under MUDA’s 50:50 site scheme.

In its submission through the Assistant Director under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED asserted that its probe uncovered unlawful land acquisition, the generation and layering of illicit funds, and undue influence in site allotments. It claimed to have shared critical evidence with the Lokayukta police, Mysuru, but found no mention of it in the closure report.

A key issue flagged by the ED concerns the de-notification of 3 acres and 16 guntas in Survey No. 464 of Kesare village. The land was purchased by B.M. Mallikarjunaswamy (CM Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law) in 2004 and later gifted to B.M. Parvathi (Siddaramaiah’s wife) in 2010. Despite this, no compensation was sought from MUDA until 2014, a detail the ED claims was overlooked.

The ED also presented satellite imagery from 2001 to 2003, showing that L&T Limited had already developed the land, including road construction, before Mallikarjunaswamy’s purchase. The agency argued that both Mallikarjunaswamy and co-accused J. Devaraju (a landowner) could not have acquired the land without utilising MUDA’s infrastructure. However, neither raised objections or demanded compensation at the time.

The ED further alleged that the Revenue Department facilitated land conversion at the request of Mallikarjunaswamy, despite prior development work. The agency insists that this is clear evidence of undue influence, which the Lokayukta failed to consider in its closure report.