Bengaluru: In a major relief to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife B.M. Parvathi, and Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh, the High Court has quashed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to them in connection with the 50:50 site irregularities at the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

Justice M. Nagaprasanna, presiding over a Single-Judge Bench, announced the order yesterday after hearing the applications filed by Parvathi and Suresh challenging the summons.

The ED is probing money laundering allegations tied to the MUDA land scam. The ED’s counter was that Parvathi was the second accused in the original case — the MUDA land scam case — after the Chief Minister and that she may have received proceeds of crime.

Senior Advocate Sandeep J. Chowta, representing Parvathi, argued that the 14 sites in question were returned to MUDA on Oct. 1, 2024 — well before the ED launched its probe.

He contended that since the sites were no longer in possession of the accused, the case did not fall under the purview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which requires the proceeds of crime to be utilised for further illegal activities.

Chowta further pointed out that, apart from the 14 sites, the ED was investigating 1,708 other sites, with 160 of them temporarily confiscated.

He argued that the agency was exceeding its jurisdiction by delving into broader issues like land acquisition and conversion, which are unrelated to money laundering.

He also noted that the ED’s investigation was interfering with an ongoing Lokayukta probe into the case. Interestingly, while the ED has seized 160 sites, the 14 sites returned to MUDA have not been confiscated. Moreover, the Lokayukta Police had already filed a B-report, stating that there was no evidence to establish any illegalities involving Parvathi or the other accused.