More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Sep 24, 2024

 

--HC junks Karnataka CM's plea against governor's nod for prosecution 

--CONTEXT: Karnataka governor approved CM's prosecution in land scam 

 

NEW DELHI – The Karnataka High Court today dismissed state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's petition against Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval to prosecute him over allegations related to the Mysore Urban Development Authority site allotment scam. The high court said that the three private complainants were justified in pursuing their complaint and seeking approval at the hands of the governor.

 

Justice M. Nagaprasanna said that under normal circumstances, it is the duty of the governor to act on the advice of the council of ministers. But the governor could take independent decisions in exceptional circumstances, Nagaprasanna said, adding that this case was one such exception.

 

The high court said that the governor's prosecution order did not suffer from "non-application of mind", and that facts stated in the complaint needed investigation. It also refused advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi's request to stay the order for two weeks. Singhvi had appeared for Siddaramaiah in the case.

 

In his petition, Siddaramaiah had said that the sanction order by the governor was issued without due application of mind and in violation of statutory mandates. The governor's decision was legally unsustainable, procedurally flawed, and motivated by extraneous considerations, the chief minister said, seeking that the high court quash the governor's sanction. 

 

On Aug 17, the governor allowed three private complainants to file cases in court, seeking a probe against Siddaramaiah over the allotment of 14 housing sites in Mysuru to his wife in 2021 – when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power – in exchange of 3.16 acres of land acquired from her by Mysuru authorities.

 

The three private complainants – anti-corruption activists T.J. Abraham, Pradeep Kumar, and Snehamayi Krishna – had approached the governor in July, alleging corruption in the acquisition of 3.16 acres of land in Kesare village of Mysuru in 2004 by Siddaramaiah's brother-in-law. In 2010, the brother-in-law gifted the land to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi B.M. Subsequently, in 2021, the land was exchanged for 14 housing sites by Mysore Urban Development Authority under a 50:50 scheme in Mysuru's Vijaynagar area. Under the scheme, land equivalent to half the acquired land is allotted in a developed area.  

 

Appearing for the governor, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta had argued that Gehlot had given sanction after noting that there existed prima facie material for a probe in the case. The complainants had said that the sanction under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act was legally valid since it merely allowed for the start of an investigation into whether Siddaramaiah could be linked to the alleged land allotments to his wife that were under question.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.