Mysuru | The Lokayukta police on Wednesday questioned Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here in the MUDA site allotment case.
Siddaramaiah appeared before the Lokayukta police in response to the summons issued to him and responded to questions put to him by a team led by Lokayukta Superintendent of Police (SP) T J Udesh, official sources said.
"The questioning lasted for about two hours," a Lokayukta official said.
He is said to be the first sitting CM of the state to appear before a probe agency as an accused.
Siddaramaiah arrived at the Lokayukta office here in a private car accompanied by senior advocate and the CM's legal advisor A S Ponnanna, a Congress MLA. After being questioned, he left Mysuru for Channapatna, to take part in Congress campaign for assembly by-polls there.
The CM, who has been named as accused number 1 in the FIR lodged by the Lokayukta police, is facing allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi B M by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
They had on October 25 questioned his wife, who has been named as accused number 2.
Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju -- from whom Swamy had purchased a land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others have been named in the FIR registered by the Mysuru-located Lokayukta police establishment on September 27.
Swamy and Devaraju have already deposed before the Lokayukta police.
Speaking to reporters after appearing before Lokayukta police, Siddaramaiah said he had answered all questions posed to him, and he had told them the "truth".
"Until it is decided by the court (about any wrongdoing) there is no black spot on my image. What is against me are just allegations. False allegations are made against me. I will respond to such allegations in the court and to the police during the probe," he said in response to a question.
Asserting that Siddaramaiah has done no wrong, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the CM appeared before the Lokayukta police, respecting the law.
The opposition BJP staged a protest here, reiterating its demand for the resignation of Siddaramaiah. Protesters led by BJP MLA T S Srivatsa slammed Siddaramaiah, and asked him to step down from the CM post and face the probe.They wondered how there could be a fair probe against a sitting chief minister.
Senior BJP leaders B S Yediyuarappa and R Ashoka termed the Lokayukta police interrogating Siddaramaiah as a "stage managed questioning" and "match fixing". They challenged Siddaramaiah to hand over the case to the CBI if he was honest.
"The CM's tour programme says he would enter the Lokayukta office for interrogation at 10 AM and would proceed for Channapatna at 12 Noon. How could he fix time to question him? Is it match-fixing? How can he know what time the investigating officer would complete his investigation? How is the investigation happening?" Ashoka asked.
BJP Lok Sabha member and former CM Basavraj Bommai said, "for the first time in the history of Karnataka, a sitting chief minister is appearing as an accused before the police officers who have worked under him. This has lowered the dignity of the chief ministerial post."
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court had on Tuesday issued notice to Siddaramaiah and others on a writ petition filed by RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, seeking a direction to transfer the case to CBI.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, who also issued notice to Parvathi, Swamy, Union of India, the State government, CBI, Lokayukta and others, directed the Lokayukta to place on record investigation conducted in the case so far.
The court posted the next hearing to November 26.
On October 24, the CM filed an appeal before the division bench of the High Court, challenging the decision of a single judge bench in connection with the MUDA site allotment case that had come as a setback to him.
The bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna had on September 24 dismissed the CM's petition challenging Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's approval for a probe against him in the case, observing that the gubernatorial order nowhere "suffers from want of application of mind".
Siddaramaiah had challenged the legality of Gehlot's sanction for the investigation against him in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites by MUDA in a prime locality.
Following the High Court order, a Special Court here on the very next day had ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Siddaramaiah, and directed to file the investigation report by December 24.
Parvathi, meanwhile, had written to MUDA to cancel 14 sites allotted to her and the MUDA had accepted it.
On September 30, the ED filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) to book the CM and others taking cognisance of the Lokayukta FIR, and is also probing the case.
In the MUDA site allotment case, it is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru (Vijayanagar Layout 3rd and 4th stages), which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
It is alleged Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village on the outskirts of Mysuru.
Bengaluru | The BJP on Wednesday ridiculed the Lokayukta police interrogating Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA case, saying that it was a "stage-managed questioning" and a "match fixing".
As Siddaramaiah appeared for questioning before the Lokayukta Superintendent of Police T J Udesh, the BJP challenged him to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) if he was honest.
In this case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land "acquired" by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
"The Chief Minister today appeared before the Lokayukta police. We all know that the Lokayukta cannot do anything. It’s all stage-managed by him (Siddaramaiah) only to show that he is clean. This doesn’t suit him," BJP senior leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa told reporters here.
He said if Siddaramaiah is really honest he should hand over the case to the CBI.
"I demand that you assign it to the CBI if the truth has to come out. The whole world knows that you are immersed in corruption," he said.
The Leader of Opposition R Ashoka wondered whether the investigation was "match fixing".
"The CM’s tour programme says he would enter the Lokayukta office for interrogation at 10 AM and would proceed for Channapatna at 12 Noon. How can he fix time to question him? Is it a match-fixing? How did he know at what time the investigating officer would complete his questioning? How is the investigation happening?" he asked.
He said the people of the state are ashamed that in 16 months of Congress rule, ministers were involved in neck deep corruption and looting the state.
"What to say when the chief minister appears for interrogation before his subordinate police officer. The chief minister himself has given the police officer a posting. Now how the same officer will investigate him," he wondered.
Lok Sabha member and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also flayed Siddaramaiah.
"For the first time in the history of Karnataka, a sitting chief minister is appearing as an accused before the police officer who has worked under him. This has lowered the dignity of the chief ministerial post," he noted.
The BJP cadres staged a protest in Mysuru when the chief minister went to the Lokayukta office for questioning. They hit the street with posters, banners and placards. They also raised slogans condemning Siddaramaiah and demanded his resignation. As the agitation intensified, the police took them under preventive custody and released them later.
The MUDA had allotted 14 plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
It is alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over this 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
Karnataka Lokayukta police, and the Directorate of Enforcement have launched an investigation into the charges.