Will take take legal advice, says MUDA Commissioner after Karnataka CM's wife sends letter

Siddaramaiah. File Pic

A day after BM Parvathi, wife of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah agreed to give up the plots to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), Commissioner AN Raghunandan said that they would seek legal advice before planning the next course of action, ANI reported.

"I have received the letter from CM Siddaramaiah's wife regarding the return of the 14 sites. CM's son, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, came to our office and submitted the letter. They have voluntarily requested us to take back the sites," Raghunandan said, according to the ANI.

He further claimed that legal counseling would be sought before deciding the next course of action.

"Since the case is under investigation, we will take legal advice before making any decision. The Lokayukta police have asked for some documents, which we will provide. No documents have been asked from the ED, and we will fully cooperate in the investigation," he added.

As per ANI, earlier today, Karnataka CM took a strong stand in response to accusations in relation to the MUDA land scam, restating that he would not resign and identified himself as a "self-witness" in the matter.

Additionally, Siddaramaiah made a distinction between his situation and that of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, pointing out that Yeddyurappa's case entailed land denotification while his was not involved in such matters.

He expressed his objective to handle the issue legally, regarless of investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or any other entities, ANI reported.

"BS Yeddyurappa's case and mine are different cases. He did denotification of land, and I am not involved in it. I will not give my resignation as a self-witness. Whether ED or anything else, I will fight it out legally," he said.

Siddaramaiah clarified that MUDA had encroached onto the land in question, which had been a gift to his wife from her brother. He added that although his wife did not specifically request Vijayanagara as the alternate location, it was assigned to her.

He claimed that the situation has surged into a political dispute and pointed out that the allegations of money laundering are not relevant to his case. He also highlighted that his wife's move was in response to avoid controversy.

As per ANI, his wife wrote to the MUDA Commissioner on Monday, offering to surrender the 14 plots that the authority had awarded her, following the ED's booking of the Karnataka chief minister in a case of money laundering connected to the MUDA land allotment fraud.

After a court order to file a First Information Report (FIR) on September 27, the Mysuru Lokayukta formally began an inquiry and investigation into the case.

The Lokayukta was instructed to look into claims of irregularities in the MUDA's allocation of 14 sites valued at Rs 56 crore to Parvathi, the wife of Siddaramaiah, ANI reported.

(With inputs from ANI)