The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued notices today to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife BM Parvathi and Urban Development Minister Byrathi Suresh, in connection with its investigation into the Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) scam in which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is the prime accused.

In October 2024, the ED launched an investigation into the Muda land allotment scam, in which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is the prime accused, along with his wife BM Parvathi and her brother BM Mallikarjunaswamy.

Since then, the ED issued notices to the Chief Minister, and conducted raids across Karnataka on offices and residences of close associates of Siddaramaiah.

In December, the Enforcement Directorate wrote to the Lokayukta, alleging widespread corruption and money laundering linked to illegal land allotments under Muda, amounting to over Rs 700 crore in market value. The ED’s letter, accessed by India Today, revealed that land denotification for non-agricultural purposes was done without proper reasoning, expert analysis, or record review, and proceeded without due deliberation.

At the time, Siddaramaiah criticised the ED for overstepping its authority in the Muda scam case, accusing it of political motives. He also questioned the agency’s intent, as the Lokayukta investigation was already underway..

Karnataka Leader of the Opposition R Ashok, meanwhile, called it a regular legal process. “As for the legal process, when Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, notices also came from the CBI, ED, and Lokayukta. It is a regular legal process, not influenced by the state or central government. We are not commenting further on that,” he said.

However, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar called it “politically motivated”.

“Two agencies cannot conduct investigations simultaneously. The same thing happened in my case (of disproportionate assets) as well. When the Lokayukta is already investigating, how can the CBI also conduct an investigation? No two agencies can do investigation simultaneously, this all political witch hunt,” he said.

Source: India Today