Bengaluru: Despite the Supreme Court dismissing the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) appeal in the controversial MUDA land allotment case, the BJP has asserted it will continue its campaign, calling the case a symbol of alleged corruption involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s family.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka on Monday reiterated the BJP’s resolve, claiming that their agitation led to the return of 14 MUDA plots by Siddaramaiah’s family, which were allegedly worth crores. “If there was nothing wrong, why did they return the sites? They could have kept them,” Ashoka asked while addressing reporters in Bengaluru.
Earlier in the day, a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran dismissed the ED’s appeal and made strong remarks, cautioning the agency against becoming a political tool.
“Let political battles be fought before the electorate. Why are you being used?” the Supreme Court observed, upholding the Karnataka High Court’s decision to quash the MUDA case against B M Parvathi, the CM’s wife.
Welcoming the verdict, CM Siddaramaiah called it a “slap in the face of the central government’s vendetta politics”, and accused the ED of being misused for political gain.
The MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) case pertains to alleged irregularities in land compensation to Parvathi. She was allotted prime residential plots in Mysuru under the 50:50 ratio compensation scheme in exchange for 3.16 acres of her acquired land. However, BJP alleges the location of the allotted sites had significantly higher property value than the land surrendered.
While the legal chapter may have closed with the Supreme Court’s firm rejection, the political battle is far from over as the BJP has vowed to intensify its pressure on the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government.
