Hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday booked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a money-laundering case, his wife has offered to surrender 14 plots of land allotted to her by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). In a letter addressed to the MUDA Commissioner, BM Parvathi stated her intention to return the plots, which were allocated to her in exchange for 3 acres and 16 guntas of land at a different location.
“I wish to surrender and return the compensatory plots by cancelling the deeds of 14 plots executed in my favour by the Mysore Urban Development Authority. I am also handing over the possession of the plots back to the Mysore Urban Development Authority. Kindly take the necessary steps in this regard as soon as possible,” Siddaramaiah’s wife wrote in the letter.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday booked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and some others in a money-laundering case linked to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority, taking cognisance of a recent state Lokayukta FIR, official sources said. The federal agency has filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) to book the chief minister and others, they said.
The case comes after the state’s Lokayukta police filed an FIR against Siddaramaiah and several others on September 27, following a directive from a special court in Bengaluru. The FIR names Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, and Devaraju, from whom Swamy had purchased land that was later gifted to Parvathi.
The ED has pressed sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to book Siddaramaiah in its ECIR, the equivalent of a police FIR. According to the procedure, the ED is empowered to summon the accused for questioning and even attach their assets during the investigation.
Siddaramaiah, 76, had last week said he was being targeted in the MUDA issue as the opposition was “scared” of him and noted that it was the first such “political case” against him. He also reiterated that he would not resign following the court ordering a probe against him in the case as he had done no wrong and asserted that he would fight the case legally.
Meanwhile, while the ruling Congress is defending its chief minister refusing to step down to face a probe, the BJP-JDS are demanding the CM’s resignation on moral grounds. A mass leader, Siddaramaiah (76), who carved his political path on the socialist ideology, is facing the toughest dilemma of his life.