Karnataka govt 'strongly urges' governor to withdraw show cause notice issued to CM
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Thursday "strongly advised" Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw the show cause notice he issued to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', and alleged that it was part of a concerted effort to destabilise the Congress regime.
The Council of Ministers discussed the show cause notice, and alleged that it was a "gross misuse of the Constitutional Office'' of the governor and said that a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations.
Based on a petition filed by advocate-activist T J Abraham, the governor issued the notice on July 26 directing the chief minister to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days justifying why permission to prosecute him should not be granted.
ALSO READ: Karnataka Ministers take exception to Governor's "show-cause notice" to CM on MUDA 'scam'
"...Hence, the request of the petitioner needs to be processed as per provisions of section 17(A) and 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023...", the governor had said in his notice to the chief minister.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Council of Ministers which lasted five hours, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, flanked by seven cabinet colleagues, said the governor failed to take note of the fact that Abraham has criminal antecedents, including cases of blackmail and extortion registered against him.
The council strongly urged the governor to withdraw the notice and to proceed forthwith to reject the application for sanction filed by Abraham, he said. "I am hopeful that the governor will withdraw the notice and uphold the dignity of his office in spite of any pressure."
Shivakumar said it expressed the view that the governor, in issuing the show cause notice, has acted in undue haste, circumventing all procedural requirements.
He described the governor's decision as a "murder of democracy and the Constitution''.
"There is no case for prosecution here," he asserted. "(This action against) a chief minister who has been elected with a huge majority in a democratic set up is a murder of democracy and detrimental to the Constitution by (sic) the Centre... the central government is using the governor..." he said.
Shivakumar said that Abraham had submitted a letter to the governor on July 26. On the same day, the chief secretary had personally given a detailed reply to the governor on the issue through a report, as sought by him earlier.
"Without looking into the aspects and issues, the genuinity (sic) of the report of the chief secretary, the governor has issued a show cause notice (to CM) on July 26... This is a political, malafide show cause notice. We never expected this from the governor. He could have studied and looked into the report submitted by the chief secretary," he said.
The chief minister skipped today's meeting of the Council of Ministers and authorised Shivakumar to chair it.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said since the Cabinet was slated to discuss the notice issued to the CM the governor, ministers requested the chief minister to skip it.
Earlier today at a breakfast meeting, Siddaramaiah held discussions with his cabinet colleagues regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high command’s directions on the issue.
The chief minister's Legal Advisor A S Ponnanna, a MLA, who was also present at the press meet, said as per Article 163 of the Constitution, the governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers and at his discretion when provided under the Constitution.
He further said: "Prior approval under section 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act can be sought only by the investigation officer after due verification, not by T J Abraham."
In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA 'scam' is of the magnitude of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
On July 14, the Congress government constituted a single-member inquiry commission under former High Court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.
Siddaramaiah, along with Shivakumar, on Tuesday met Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
