Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday questioned why the Enforcement Directorate wrote a letter to the state’s Lokayukta Police about an alleged corruption case against him, accusing the agency of being politically motivated.
The Congress leader alleged that the letter, written a day before a hearing in the High Court about the case, was aimed at influencing the judiciary. The High Court is slated to hear the matter on Thursday.
The alleged scam pertains to the allotment of 14 high-value housing sites in Mysuru’s Vijaynagar area to Parvathi, in 2021 by the Mysore Urban Development Authority under a state government scheme.
This was allegedly done in exchange for 3.1 acres of land that the chief minister’s wife BM Parvathi owned in another part of the city. The land was allegedly illegally acquired from Dalit families.
The Lokayukta Police is investigating allegations of irregularities in allotting the land to Parvati, while the Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering related to the case.
The central agency, in a letter to the Lokayukta Police on Wednesday, had alleged violation of guidelines, forgery and undue influence in granting alternative land to Parvati, The Indian Express reported. The agency claimed that a total of 1,095 sites had been allotted illegally.
The Enforcement Directorate alleged that SG Dinesh Kumar, one of Siddaramaiah’s personal assistants, used undue influence in getting land allotted to the chief minister’s wife.
Siddaramaiah, however, alleged that the central agency was investigating the case although it did not have the powers to do so.
“The governor has asked that the case be probed by the Lokayukta,” the Congress leader said, according to The Indian Express. “The district court has sought an investigation report by December 24. When there is an investigation, what is the intention behind the letter? Is it not deliberate?”
Siddaramaiah said that the proper course of action for the Enforcement Directorate would have been to submit its findings to the Lokayukta after completing its investigation.
“Instead, writing to the Lokayukta and leaking it to the media exposes a politically motivated agenda,” he said. “Publicising this just before the hearing reflects a deliberate attempt to create prejudice and influence the judiciary’s perspective.”
A division bench of the High Court will on Thursday hear Siddaramaiah’s appeal against a decision of a single-judge bench which upheld the governor’s permission to investigate the allegations against him.