The Karnataka Excessive Court docket on Friday put aside the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s spouse, Parvathi, and City Growth Minister Byrathi Suresh in reference to the Mysore City Growth Authority (MUDA) case.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
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Justice M Nagaprasanna, who delivered the decision, supplied much-needed aid to the Chief Minister and his household. Parvathi and Byrathi Suresh had approached the Excessive Court docket looking for the cancellation of ED’s summons associated to the alleged MUDA rip-off.
Moreover, the Excessive Court docket dismissed a plea that sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter. The courtroom dominated that an unbiased inquiry was already being carried out by the Karnataka Lokayukta, making a CBI investigation pointless.
The judgement got here a day after Karnataka Lokayukta SP Udesh submitted an interim 8,000-page B Report on the case, stating that the allegations had been “not actionable.” With this, the Lokayukta has moved in direction of submitting a last report earlier than the competent courtroom.
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In keeping with the Lokayukta’s findings, the accusations in opposition to the 4 people concerned within the case had been both civil in nature, misinterpretations of authorized provisions, or past the scope of legal prosecution. Earlier, the Karnataka Lokayukta Police had additionally knowledgeable complainant Snehamayi Krishna that the claims relating to the MUDA rip-off couldn’t be substantiated because of a scarcity of proof.
In the meantime, the political storm surrounding the case continued, with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar criticizing the BJP and JDS for what he described as a politically motivated conspiracy. Talking at his Sadashivanagar residence on February 20, he mentioned, “I had stated long ago that the BJP and JDS were using this issue for political gains. They even held a padayatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru, but when there is no signature of CM Siddaramaiah on any documents, how can he be involved?”
Supporting this stance, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge identified that the Lokayukta, as an unbiased investigative company, had given a clear chit to the Chief Minister. “CM Siddaramaiah had always maintained that there was no scam and no involvement of his family members, and the investigation has confirmed that. We are not here to satisfy the BJP. The same Lokayukta had previously given clean chits to BJP leaders, and back then, the BJP had no issues with it,” Kharge remarked.
This verdict marks a vital turning level within the case, considerably lowering the authorized and political stress on the ruling authorities.
(With ANI inputs)