Court orders probe by Lokayukta police against CM Siddaramaiah

A Special Court on Wednesday ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case, setting the stage for the filing of an FIR against him.

- VINAY KUMAR

The order by Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat came a day after the High Court upheld the sanction granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites by MUDA to his wife, B. M. Parvathi.

The Special Court, which deals exclusively with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs, directed the Lokayukta police in Mysuru to initiate an investigation based on a complaint filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna.

The Court issued directions to conduct the probe under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and to file the investigation report by December 24.

The Karnataka High Court had earlier vacated its August 19 interim order directing the Special Court to defer its decision on complaints against the Chief Minister, thus giving the green light for the probe to proceed.