BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday wondered whether Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot had not discriminated against him after granting immediate permission to prosecute him in the alleged MUDA ‘scam’ while following a delaying approach in the case of Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
“Has the governor not discriminated by giving immediate permission for prosecution against me? In the case of former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the Governor has been following a delay policy, but he has permitted the prosecution without relying on any investigation report against me. Is this not discrimination?”, CM told reporters in Koppal on Wednesday.
ಮಾಜಿ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಕುಮಾರಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರನ್ನು ಬಂಧಿಸುವ ಅಗತ್ಯಬಿದ್ದರೆ ಮುಲಾಜಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಬಂದಿಸ್ತೀವಿ. ಆದರೆ ಈಗ ಇನ್ನೂ ಬಂಧಿಸುವ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶ ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ.@hd_kumaraswamy ಯವರ ಪ್ರಕರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಳಂಬ ಧೋರಣೆ ಅನುಸರಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ರಾಜ್ಯಪಾಲರು, ನನ್ನ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಮಾತ್ರ ಯಾವುದೇ ತನಿಖಾ ವರದಿಯನ್ನು ಆಧರಿಸದೇ ಪ್ರಾಸಿಕ್ಯೂಷನ್ ಗೆ ಅನುಮತಿ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ.…
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 21, 2024
In a post on X, the CM said that the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team sought permission for prosecution against the Janata Dal (Secular) leader Kumaraswamy in an alleged illegal mining case, but the governor did not take any action.
The CM added, “In HD Kumarawamy’s case, the Governor is following a delaying approach, but he has allowed prosecution against me alone any investigation report. What else is this but discrimination?”
“Kumaraswamy is already scared. They are worried that the governor may allow an investigation into the illegal mining case. The Lokayukta SIT submitted an investigation report against him and sought permission for prosecution, but as no action was taken by the Governor, SIT applied again”, the CM added.
The CM was speaking in the context of the SIT seeking the Governor’s nod to file a chargesheet against HD Kumaraswamy over an alleged ‘illegal’ mining lease.
Kumarswamy, in turn, accused the Congress of vendetta politics and said that the Congress wanted to malign him using a dead case.
“They started the enquiry in 2011 and several findings have come out. There is no loss to the exchequer. Till now, no mining is allowed to anyone. Now it’s 2024, the SIT hasn’t completed the investigation yet. Two to three times they went to the Supreme Court, but only filed the status report. Now, after the Congress came to power in 2023, they went to the governor in November requesting sanction to file a chargesheet against me. Let’s see what happens. I have no role in the case. This government wants to malign me. But this is a dead case”, he said.
The Karnataka High Court on Monday asked the trial court concerned not to take any precipitative action against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah based on the Governor’s sanction in the MUDA ‘scam’, till the next date of hearing before the High Court.
Earlier, a complaint was filed by social activist Snehamayi Krishna against the Karnataka CM and nine others for allegedly forging documents to claim compensation from the Mysuru Urban Development Authority. (ANI)