MUDA case: Karnataka HC issues notices on appeals by CM Siddaramaiah, landowner Devaraj | Bengaluru News

The case involves land sold to Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law and gifted to his wife. Senior advocates like Dushyant Dave, Abhishek Singhvi, and Kapil Sibal appeared in court.

BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered notice to the respondents in connection with the writ appeals filed by chief minister Siddaramaiah and landowner Devaraj in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Corporation (MUDA) alternative sites allotment case. The appeals will now be heard on January 25, 2025.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind ordered the issuance of notice to the office of the Governor of Karnataka, the complainants in the complaints filed against the chief minister and his wife Parvathy and others. The chief minister challenged the single bench’s order passed on September 24, dismissing his petition challenging the sanction accorded by Governor Taawarchand Gehlot to investigate him.
On the other hand, Devaraj, who sold the 3 acres 16 guntas land to Mallikarjuna Swamy, the brother-in-law of the chief minister who in turn gifted the same to his sister Parvathy, filed two writ appeals. One of them is against the main order passed in the writ petition filed by chief minister Siddaramaiah, and the second one is against the petition filed by complainant Snehamayi Krishna, seeking a CBI probe in the matter.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing on behalf of landowner Devaraj, claimed that he was not made a party in the proceedings before the single bench, and the order has now forced the appellant (Devaraj), aged 80 years, to face criminal prosecution. He also prayed the court to grant a stay or request the single bench to defer the hearing in the other petition seeking CBI probe, pending before the single bench.
Appearing for chief minister Siddaramaiah, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi claimed that the single bench did not properly consider the purport of section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, along with Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty, represented the state govt.
Senior advocate KG Raghavan, appearing for Snehamayi Krishna, pointed out that it was chief minister Siddaramaiah who was the petitioner before the single bench, and he (Snehamayi Krishna) was only a respondent. He further submitted that Devaraj can plead all the contentions before the single bench, wherein the petition seeking a CBI probe is scheduled to come up for hearing on December 10, 2024.