New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was booked by the Enforcement Directorate today in a money-laundering case linked to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority, the federal agency has taken note of a recent FIR filed by the state Lokayukta.
The agency has registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR) to book the chief minister and others, according to sources.
The FIR, lodged by the Mysuru-based Lokayukta police on September 27, names Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and Devaraju — from whom Swamy purchased land and later gifted it to Parvathi — along with other individuals.
The FIR was filed after a special court in Bengaluru last week directed the Lokayukta police to investigate Siddaramaiah in connection with the case.
The court’s order followed the Karnataka High Court’s decision to uphold the sanction granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, allowing an investigation into allegations of illegalities involving the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) allotting 14 sites to Siddaramaiah’s wife.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has invoked sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in its enforcement case information report (ECIR), which is the equivalent of a police FIR. As part of the investigation process, the ED is authorised to summon the accused for questioning and has the power to attach their assets if necessary.
Siddaramaiah, 76, last week said he was being targeted over the MUDA issue because the opposition was “scared” of him, calling it the first “political case” against him. He reiterated that he would not resign after the court ordered a probe, asserting that he had done nothing wrong and would fight the case legally.
In the MUDA site-allotment case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife in a prime area of Mysuru, where the property value was significantly higher compared to the location of her original land, which had been “acquired” by MUDA.
The Lokayukta FIR includes charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), such as 166 (public servant disobeying the law to cause injury), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 340 (wrongful confinement), and 351 (assault), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonest inducement).
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