Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah Likely To Be booked By ED In MUDA Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to file a money laundering case against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife, along with others, in relation to the MUDA case.

Sources indicate that an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) could be registered by the end of the day or tomorrow, based on an FIR lodged by the Karnataka Lokayukta.

A senior ED official confirmed, "We are in possession of the details of the FIR and relevant case details. The offences fall under the schedule of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A case will be registered soon after completing necessary formalities."

Once the case is registered, it may allow the ED to seize properties belonging to the Chief Minister and his family, in addition to potentially taking further legal action.

Earlier this year, two other Chief Ministers, Jharkhand's Hemant Soren and Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal, were also arrested in separate ED cases and spent several months in jail before being granted bail.

The Karnataka Lokayukta police had previously charged Siddaramaiah and three others with corruption, forgery, and cheating regarding the alleged allotment of 14 Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) housing plots to the CM's wife in 2021.

The FIR, filed by the Lokayukta's Mysuru unit, stemmed from a complaint by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, referred to the agency by a special court for elected representatives on September 25. Besides Siddaramaiah, the FIR also names his wife B M Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and a former landowner named Devaraju.

This development follows the Karnataka High Court's ruling on September 24, which upheld Governor Thawarchand Gehlot's approval of cases against the CM under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

After the Lokayukta FIR was registered, the complainant sought further action from the ED. However, agency sources revealed that the ED had already begun working on the case.

Siddaramaiah and his family are accused of profiting from a land exchange scheme involving 3.16 acres of land outside Mysuru, which was gifted to his wife by her brother in 2010.

This land was allegedly swapped for 14 prime housing sites in Mysuru under a 50:50 exchange arrangement, which was established during the BJP's rule.

Activists claim that this illegal exchange caused a loss of Rs 56 crore to the state, leading them to approach the Governor and the special court.