Governor grants permission to prosecute CM Siddaramaiah over alleged land allotment irregularities

BENGALURU: Governor Tawarchand Gehlot has given permission to prosecute Siddaramaiah, who is also a senior Congress leader, for alleged irregularities in the allotment of land by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). The action was taken on a petition filed by three social workers.

Malayalees TJ Abraham, Pradeep Kumar and Snehamai Krishna filed the petition. "A copy of the decision of the competent authority on the request for permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 218 of the Indian Civil Security Code is enclosed herewith as directed by the Governor," states the letter sent to the activists from the Governor's Secretariat. The chief minister's office confirmed that it had received information about permission to prosecute.

The Governor's action comes amid allegations of illegal encroachment of the Mysuru Development Authority's land by CM's wife BM Parvathy. Siddaramaiah, his son S Yathindra and top officials of MUDA have been named in the social activists' complaint. Last month, the governor had issued a show-cause notice to the chief minister asking him to reply to the allegations within seven days and why he should not be prosecuted. The prosecution was allowed following this.