‘Not scared of BJP, JD(S) conspiracies,’ says Siddaramaiah after HC dismisses his plea- The Week

“I have done nothing wrong. If the High Court has allowed an inquiry against me, it does not imply I am guilty,” said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed his petition challenging the Governor’s sanction order against him in the alleged MUDA land allotment scam.

Addressing a press meet at his home office ‘Krishna’ a few hours after the HC verdict, Siddaramaiah said, “I am yet to study the judgement. But the High Court has only approved inquiry into the charges and not allowed my prosecution.”

READ: MUDA scam: Karnataka High Court dismisses Siddaramaiah’s plea; CM likely to face probe

Further, elaborating on the court order, the CM said, “The governor gave sanction under sections 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act and 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), though (private) complainants sought sanction for prosecution under Sections 17A, 19 of the PCA and Section 218 of the BNSS. Today, the High Court said its order restricts approval under only Section 17A. The HC has totally rejected prosecution under Section 218.”

The single judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna, in its order stated “The order is read to be restrictive to an approval under Section 17A of the Act and not an order granting sanction under 218 of BNSS.”

The section 17A of PC Act prohibits police officers from conducting an inquiry or investigation into an alleged offense committed by a public servant without prior approval from the appropriate authority. While, Section 218 of BNSS deals with the process for prosecuting public servants and judges. It states a court cannot take cognizance of an offense committed by a public servant while acting in the discharge of their official duty unless it has prior sanction.

“After going through the judgement, I will discuss with my cabinet colleagues, party high command and legal experts and decide on what action is to be taken,” said Siddaramaiah, who also accused the BJP of indulging in vendetta politics.

MUDA scam: ‘Siddaramaiah will not resign’, says Shivakumar backing Karnataka CM

“The BJP has never captured power in the state in a straight forward way but through the backdoor. In 2008 and 2018, they did not win majority. They tried to dislodge our government through money power and Operation Kamala. This time, too, they tried but failed. I am not afraid of the conspiracies hatched by the BJP and JD(S) as people are with me and also my party. People have given us a clear mandate—136 seats in 2023. During my previous tenure, too, the BJP had opposed all our pro-poor schemes and this time, they are opposing our five guarantees because they are against the poor and social justice,” alleged Siddaramaiah, adding that he would not be intimidated by any of the BJP’s tactics.

The Modi government is doing vendetta politics against every non-BJP ruled government and not just against me, said the chief minister claiming the people of Karnataka were firmly backing him like a rock.

Siddaramaiah, who was flanked by deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar and several ministers and MLAs during the press meet said he had the support of his party and the legislators. When asked about the BJP demanding his resignation on moral grounds, he asked if H.D. Kumaraswamy and others, who are on bail, had resigned.

MUDA scam: Will Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah be forced to step down as governor permits his prosecution?

The BJP has demanded the chief minister to step down immediately citing moral grounds. But the Congress ministers chose to vehemently defend their leader.

Leader of opposition R. Ashok said, “Siddaramaiah should resign. He claims to be a follower of Ramakrishna Hegde. But Hegde had resigned when he faced allegations of corruption.”

“The high court has clearly mentioned that the governor’s sanction to prosecute is in order. Siddaramaiah must honour the court order. He should step down as the chief minister on moral grounds, too,” said BJP state president BY Vijayendra.

MUDA case: Verdict will determine future of Siddaramaiah, Congress govt in Karnataka

KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar said, “The chief minister has done nothing wrong. This is a political conspiracy against the chief minister by the BJP. I had faced a similar situation and also spent time in jail due to a conspiracy. I was fortunate, I came out of it. We stand by our CM. I am confident that he will come out clean in this case.”

Union minister Shobha Karandlaje said it was a known fact that Siddaramaiah was corrupt after he had tried to dismantle the Lokayukta in the state. “Siddaramaiah has a history of trying to weaken the Lokayukta during his first stint as the chief minister. He had targeted the Lokayukta as there were 25 cases of corruption against him before the Lokayukta. In MUDA case, he has illegally taken 14 sites in a posh locality in Mysuru as compensation for a land in a village. He also badmouthed the governor for sanctioning the order (to prosecute) even as he claims to go by the Constitution,” Karandlaje said.

Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy slammed the BJP for demanding CM’s resignation saying the BJP had been misusing the governor’s office to target the non-BJP governments.

“The BJP has done it in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal Kerala and Delhi. But there is no question of Siddaramaiah stepping down. He has the support of all the MLAs. We can still appeal before the double bench, full bench of the High Court and also petition the Supreme Court,” said Reddy.

“We will fight it politically and legally. the governor gave sanction under 17A of (PCA). But in the case of H.D. Kumaraswamy, Shashikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani or Janaradhana Reddy, the police had sought sanction for prosecution under Section 218 of the BNS, which is more grave. But the governor did not grant prosecution,” argued Industries minister M.B. Patil.

IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge said, “This is part of the Centre’s playbook and BJP’s standard operating procedure. After they failed to achieve their goal (of destabilising the government) even after using CBI, IT and ED, they pushed the governor forward.”

Labour minister Santosh Lad demanded to know as to why Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not resign even after the Supreme Court ruled that the electoral bond was a fraud. “BJP has no right to speak on morality. We will appeal before the higher bench,” said Lad.