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Karnataka minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan on Wednesday defended Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, calling the allegations against him in the alleged MUDA scam case a mere "political game."
Khan said Siddaramaiah is not involved in the matter and expressed confidence that the facts would come out after an investigation. Khan also revealed that senior party leaders are supporting Siddaramaiah and urging him not to resign amid the controversy. "The facts will come out when an inquiry is conducted...This is just a political game. Siddaramaiah has no involvement in the case. We all, including party high command, Venugopal ji and Surjewala ji are with the CM. We have told him not to resign...Siddharama has no involvement whatsoever," Khan said. Meanwhile CM Siddaramiah said that he was prepared for a legal fight on the issue. "I am ready to face the investigation and continue the legal fight. As I said yesterday, I repeat today: there is no question of fearing an investigation; I am determined to face everything. After discussing with legal experts, I will decide the next course of action," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, the Special Court in Bengaluru passed an order directing Karnataka Lokyukta to conduct an investigation against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the allegation of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites worth Rs 56 crore to his wife Parvathi by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Karnataka Lokayukta's Mysuru district police will have to conduct the investigation and will submit its report in three months. The Special Court's order came after the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday vacated its interim stay order granted on August 19, directing the court to defer the decision on the complaints against Siddaramaiah. The order came on the petition of social activist Snehamayi Krishna. "FIR will have to be registered as per the order. Mysuru Lokayukta jurisdiction will register an FIR and do the investigation," Advocate Vasant Kumar, representing petitioner activist Snehamayi Krishna, told reporters. The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed Siddaramaiah's petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for an investigation into alleged illegalities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority's (MUDA) allotting sites to his wife. In his judgement, the single judge bench of Justice Nagaprasanna said that the order of sanction for prosecution does not suffer from non-application of mind by the Governor. It is alleged that MUDA illegally allotted 14 sites to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife in the prime location of Mysuru city. The High Court, in its interim order, passed on August 19, had granted temporary relief to Siddaramaiah by directing a special court in Bengaluru to defer further proceedings and not to take any precipitative action pursuant to the sanction granted by the Governor. (ANI)
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