Karnataka High Court issues notice to CM Siddaramaiah on plea challenging closure of MUDA case

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday sought the response of the Karnataka Lokayukta police, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, among others, to a plea challenging the closure of the MUDA corruption case against Siddaramaiah, his wife and two others.

Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav issued notice today on the plea filed by activist Snehamayi Krishna challenging a Bengaluru trial court's decision to accept the Lokayukta police's closure report in the matter.

The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case is tied to allegations that Siddaramaiah misused his official position to enable irregular allotment of certain land to his wife, BM Parvathi.

Activist Snehamayi Krishna filed a complaint in this matter. The Governor of Karnataka granted sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah in the case in July 2024. 

The Lokayukta police investigated the case and in February 2025, submitted a closure report (B report) to the trial court. The report was initially kept on hold to allow further investigation into other alleged irregularities in MUDA allotments.

In January this year, the trial court accepted the closure report which stated that there was not not enough evidence to prove corruption against four of the accused - Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and landowner J Devaraj.

The Court, however, clarified that the investigation against other accused individuals in the case would continue.

This trial court ruling has now been challenged by Krishna before the High Court. His plea contends that the trial court was wrong to have accepted the the Lokayukta's move to close the case against Siddaramaiah, his wife, his brother-in-law and Devaraj.

As per the plea,

"The learned trial court has failed to appreciate that the allegations in the present case are not in the nature of a private dispute but involve abuse of constitutional office, and therefore required a deeper and independent scrutiny rather than mechanical reliance on the opinion of the investigating agency."

According to the petition, the trial court had "selectively" accepted the closure reports against some of the accused, while directing the investigation to continue against others and acknowledging certain irregularities and loss to the State exchequer.

This reveals jurisdictional error and a fundamental inconsistency in the trial court order, the plea said.

The petition was filed through advocates Vasantha Kumara and Nishanth SK.

Notably, a plea by Snehamayi Krishna seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the MUDA case is also presently pending before a Division Bench of the High Court.