Evidence of several irregularities have been detected in the transfer of 14 sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to B M Parvathi, the wife of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, according to the Enforcement Directorate.
A proposal by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to rename a stretch of road in the city after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has sparked strong objections from the opposition JD(S) and citizens. The proposal, which calls for naming a stretch of KRS Road as 'Siddaramaiah Arogya Marga', has been met with criticism, with the JD(S) calling it a "betrayal and insult" to the city's history and the state. The proposal has also drawn ire from RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, who alleges that the road holds historical significance and that Siddaramaiah is an accused in the MUDA site allotment case. Citizens have also voiced their objections to the proposal, and Krishna has announced her intention to challenge it legally.
The Supreme Court referred to a larger bench the legal issues stemming from a plea of BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, including the question whether a prior sanction to prosecute is needed under the Prevention of Corruption Act after a magisterial court order of inquiry. The questions revolve around the interplay between the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure on the issue of prior sanction to prosecute a public servant.
Expressing doubts over the state government implementing his report on the mining scam in Karnataka, state Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on Saturday said his only hope was the Supreme Court.
A Special Court in Bengaluru on Wednesday ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case.
In a letter to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority commissioner she said she was allotted the 14 alternative sites in the third and fourth phase of Vijayanagar in Mysuru against the usage of her three acres and 16 Guntas of land in Kesare village under Kasaba Hobli in Mysuru.
More than Rs 8 crore unaccounted cash has been seized in subsequent raids at various locations by Lokayukta. The arrested officer's father is Madal Virupakshappa, the MLA representing Channagiri constituency in Davangere district of the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday questioned the ED slapping a money laundering case against him in the MUDA 'scam' and once again ruled out his resignation over the issue.
Terming the charges against him a "BJP conspiracy", Siddaramaiah said he would wage a legal fight.
Siddaramaiah is facing the Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA.
In fresh trouble for B S Yeddyurappa, Karnataka governor H R Bhardwaj on Wednesday gave sanction to the Lokayukta police to initiate criminal proceedings against him over the report on illegal mining. Bhardwaj accepted the findings and recommendations of the Lokayukta in Chapter 22 of the report for initiating criminal proceedings against Yeddyurappa, a Raj Bhavan communique said.
Karnataka Lokayukta Police on Tuesday raided the premises of former minister and mining baron Janardhan Reddy in Bellary for alleged illegal mining and possession of disproportionate assets.
In line with the August 8 order of the Lokayukta court directing investigation into the charges against Yeddyurappa in a private complaint, an FIR has been registered under section 158 (3) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Incharge Lokayukta Superintendent of Police, Rangaswamy Naik told PTI.
"We are inclined to stay the proceedings. Accordingly the proceedings on the FIR on the issue ordered by the Karnataka Lokayukta will remain stayed," a bench comprising justices Altamas Kabir and Gyan Sudha Misra said.
He also promised to give free electricity, quality education in government schools and good healthcare for the state's people.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday requested Justice N Santosh Hegde, who resigned from the post of Lokayukta of Karnataka on June 23 over the manner in which the government had treated some of his reports, to reconsider his decision.
The move by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son Rahul Kharge comes close on the heels of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi returning the 14 sites to Mysuru Urban Development Authority after the Lokayukta police registered a case against Siddaramaiah, his wife and brother-in-law.
The Lokayukta court on Tuesday issued summons to former Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, his wife and another person on a complaint alleging illegal construction on government land and allotment of site to them under discretionary quota when they already possessed land.
Shivakumar took stock of the incident in which five people lost their lives.
Earlier, deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also the state party chief, also had separate meetings with Parameshwara and Jarkiholi.
Former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde on Monday said he was not willing to be Goa Lokayukta, even if that office was offered to him.
The list does not include Jagadish Shettar who met BJP president J P Nadda earlier in the day to stake his claim to contest from his Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency.
The Karnataka government will have to restart its lookout for a new Lokayukta after the Governor formally rejected the name of Justice S R Bannurmath on Monday.
Former Supreme Court Judge, Shivaraj V Patil on Wednesday took over as Karnataka Lokayukta and said that corruption would not be tolerated at any level in the state.
The Karnataka Lokayukta Police on Monday registered an FIR against former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and his family members in connection with the anti-corruption watchdog's report into illegal mining. Besides Yeddyurappa, his sons B Y Raghavendra, B Y Vijendra and son-in-law R N Sohan Kumar and others have been named in the FIR under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Lokayukta sources said.
Lokayukta sources said much of the findings are already in the public domain as the report was leaked.
A week after chiding the Karnataka government over the "inordinate delay" in appointing the Lokayukta, the Karnataka high court on Monday directed it to begin the process of appointment in the next two days.
The Karnataka high Court on Friday ordered issue of notices to the Lokayukta police and the complainants in two anticipatory bail applications filed by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in two private complaints filed before the Lokayukta court in alleged land scam cases.
Karnataka Horticulture Minister Munirathna on Thursday said he would be filing a Rs 50-crore defamation case and a criminal defamation case against the Karnataka State Contractors' Association, which has made a 40 per cent commission charge against the government and accused him of collecting money.
In more trouble to Karnataka Janata Dal-Secular chief H D Kumaraswamy, the Lokayukta special court on Monday ordered an investigation into a private complaint filed against him alleging illegalities in denotification of government land in 2007 when he was the chief minister.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and his wife Datty on Monday appeared before the Lokayukta court here in connection with a complaint filed against them alleging that they had obtained sites through illegal allotment.
Spelling fresh trouble for former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, the Lokayukta police on Saturday filed an FIR against him, Housing Minister V Somanna and two others, alleging irregularities in denotification of land. "An FIR has been filed against Yeddyurappa and Somanna, mainly under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and also for misappropriation, breach of criminal trust and forging documents," City Lokayukta said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said it was too early to react to the Karnataka Lokayukta's report on illegal mining, which has indicted Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, and asked the Congress to first take action against those named in the Shunglu Committee and Delhi Lokayukta reports.
Days after the arrest of B S Yeddyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party faced more embarrassment in Karnataka on Monday with a Lokayukta court ordering a probe into allegations against a senior minister Murugesh Nirani that he had floated a number of companies which got denotified government land, causing loss of over Rs.130 crore to the exchequer.
Corruption in the office of the Karnataka Lokayukta is a huge matter of debate today. Questions have been raised about the office on how it continued to book cases of corruption, especially when its own officers were corrupt.
The Karnataka Lokayukta police on Tuesday carried out searches at the four offices of Sohan Kumar, son-in-law of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, in connection with the land denotification issue.
The Lokayukta Court on Saturday issued summons to former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and five others to appear before it on March 3 for their alleged involvement in an illegal land denotification case. Besides Yeddyurappa, Lokayukta Judge N K Sudhindra Rao also issued summons to Yeddyurappa's sons B Y Raghavendra, B Y Vijayendra, his son-in-law R N Sohan Kumar, former minister Krishnaiah Setty and directors of Dhavalagiri Properties Limited.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Friday moved the Karnataka High Court against the order of the Lokayukta court, which directed the police to investigate the illegal mining case against him.
While the Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde gives final touches to the illegal mining report, the people of Bellary say they are not bothered, and Chief Minister Yeddyurappa is on a mission to save his chair yet again. Vicky Nanjappa revisits Lokayukta's first report that came out in April 2010, and dealt with the pathetic living conditions in Bellary.
The Aam Aadmi Party government on Friday told the Delhi high court that it has initiated the process to appoint Lokayukta, a post which has remained vacant since November 2013.