The Karnataka High Court dismissed the petition filed by Siddaramaiah against Governor Thawarchand Gehlot's decision to sanction the complaint and investigation against him in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case. The Governor had earlier sanctioned prosecution against the chief minister over the alleged irregularities in the allotment of sites in the MUDA scam case. A single-judge bench of Justice Nagaprasanna of the State High Court, which heard the petition, today announced this important verdict, stating that the Governor upholding the decision, the challenge petition filed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was dismissed. This judgment of the State High Court has created a tremor in state politics and the chances of this judgment leading to rapid political developments are high.
The court has said that there should be an investigation into the land allotment case, which has further increased Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's woes. Regarding the prosecution permission case, the arguments and counter-arguments were completed before Justice Nagaprasanna's bench and Justice Nagaprasanna reserved the verdict. The Chief Minister had challenged the approval given by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot for an investigation against him in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by MUDA in a prime locality. After completing the hearings on the petition in six sittings from August 19, the single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna on September 12 reserved its verdict. It had also extended its August 19 interim order directing the special court for people's representatives that was slated to hear complaints against him in the case, to defer its proceedings till the disposal of the petition. As the judge dismissed the petition, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi who appeared for Siddaramaiah, said, "the matter related to dates of 1990's, and the complaint if filed now.." as he requested the bench to consider "a two weeks' stay on this. Responding to this, Justice Nagaprasanna said, "I can't stay my order....The petition stands dismissed. Interim order of any kind subsisting today shall stand dissolved."
While noted lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Prof. Ravivarma Kumar had appeared for Siddaramaiah, Solicitor-General of India Tushar Mehta represented the office of the Governor. Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty also made his submissions. Senior Advocates Maninder Singh, Prabhuling K Navadgi, Lakshmi Iyengar, Ranganath Reddy, K G Raghavan, among others made submissions on behalf of the complainants (respondents) who had sought the sanction for investigation against Siddaramaiah.Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has decided to appeal to the Divisional Bench of the State High Court questioning the upholding of the permission by a single-member bench of the State High Court. A single-member bench of Justice Nagaprasanna of the State High Court declared that the governor's permission for investigation in the Muda case is legal.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has proposed to appeal to the Divisional Bench of the State High Court that this decision should be stayed and this decision should be quashed. It has been said that after receiving the copy of the court's decision today, Siddaramaiah's lawyer will file an appeal to the Divisional Bench. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that he will discuss with legal experts and decide the form and direction of the next struggle. The High Command stood firm with me and encouraged me to continue the legal struggle. I have faith in law and constitution, he added. Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka sought the Chief Minister's resignation on Tuesday. He said that the CM should stop attacking the Governor, take moral responsibility and immediately resign from his post. BJP State President BY Vijayendra said the BJP had been relentlessly attacking the Congress and its "corrupt CM" for the last two months. Siddaramaiah should respect the High Court's verdict and resign from the CM's post, " Vijayendra noted.Bangalore South MP L S Tejasvi Surya also welcomed the High Court's decision. Alok Mohan, the Director General of Police of the state has indicated that police across the state are on alert.