A commission led by retired judge PN Desai has given a clean chit to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his family in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case. The Karnataka cabinet accepted the report on Thursday, which also recommended legal action against officials responsible for irregularities.
The Desai Commission was tasked with examining allegations that Siddaramaiah's family was involved in an “illegal alternative site allotment scam” in Mysuru between 2020 and 2024. It concluded that the allotment of sites as compensation could not be classified as illegal.
"In respect of utilisation of de-notified land in survey number 464 of Kesare village, though the land owner insisted on alternative undeveloped land as compensation and although the resolution was also passed in 2017, the same has not been implemented. Subsequently, in 2022, sites were allotted in the ratio of 50:50 as per one of the modes of payment adopted in the same manner as allotted to others,” the commission stated in its findings.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil confirmed the cabinet's decision. “We (the government) had constituted Justice PN Desai's one-man Commission, which has submitted its report in two volumes. The report makes it clear that there is no truth in allegations made against the chief minister and his family. It has also asked for action against certain officials on various accounts. We (the cabinet) have accepted the report and its recommendations,” he said.
According to officials, the commission cleared Siddaramaiah and his wife, Parvathi BM, citing no illegality in the allotment of 14 plots to Parvathi in exchange for 3.16 acres of her land at Kesare village, which MUDA had allegedly used to form a layout. The case had centred on allegations that the compensatory sites allotted to Parvathi in Mysuru’s upmarket Vijayanagar Layout 3rd and 4th stages had a higher property value than her original land. Under MUDA’s 50:50 ratio scheme, landowners whose land was acquired for residential layouts received 50 per cent of the developed land as compensation.
It had also been alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over the 3.16 acres in survey number 464 of Kesare village, Kasaba hobli, Mysuru taluk.
The Desai Commission also inquired into MUDA’s functioning between 2006 and July 2024. The Lokayukta Police had previously given Siddaramaiah, Parvathi, and others a clean chit due to a lack of evidence. Those named in the FIR included Siddaramaiah, Parvathi, his brother-in-law BM Mallikarjun Swamy, and Devaraju, who sold the land to Swamy before it was gifted to Parvathi.
Meanwhile, the cabinet also tabled the Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission report on alleged discrepancies in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) works between 2019-20 and 2022-23, a period when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power. “The HN Nagamohan Das Commission report was placed before the cabinet, but because of paucity of time, we could not go into it. It will be discussed in the next cabinet,” Patil told the media. Sources said the 8,900-page report has found irregularities and recommended action against officials and contractors.
Also read: Prez Murmu to Siddaramaiah: Will learn Kannada ‘little by little’
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