MUDA ''scam'': CM Siddaramaiah rejects BJP's demand for CBI probe, says it's a "non-issue"
Mysuru (Karnataka), Jul 10: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday rejected BJP's demand for a CBI probe into the alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), which involves plots given to his wife Parvathi.
He accused the BJP of politicising a "non-issue."
The Chief Minister was reacting to BJP state President B Y Vijayendra announcing earlier in the day that a "mega" protest would be staged in Mysuru -- Siddaramaiah's home district -- on July 12 in connection with the alleged "scam".
It is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
ALSO READ: MUDA ''scam'': BJP to hold "mega" protest in home district of CM on July 12, demands his resignation
The 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.
The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 per cent of developed land to the land loser in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts.
"There are two issues, one is -- in October itself MUDA was told not to give sites under the 50:50 ratio scheme, but despite that sites were given regarding which investigation is on by two IAS officers. And based on it action will be taken. Second is -- they (BJP) want to make the sites given to my wife an issue, it is not at all an issue. It is not an issue at all," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
"Did we seek for sites to be given in Vijayanagar? We haven't. Our land was illegally taken over. What will you do if your land is taken over? Won't you claim? That's what has happened here. We sought compensation for our land that was taken over, they (MUDA) gave in Vijayanagar, and they have accepted at the meeting that illegal take-over of our land was wrong."
Terming BJP's proposed protest as "political", the Chief Minister said if they raise the issue in the Legislative Assembly, "we will respond to it".
On BJP demanding a CBI probe, he said: "Can't our police probe? What are our police for? I have given several cases to CBI during our government, have they (BJP) given any case while in power? CBI Director Praveen Sood was DGP in Karnataka, our police have capability to investigate."
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Prez nod for FIR against AAP's Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain in Rs 2,000-cr classroom 'scam'
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said.
In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.
The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD).
The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties".
Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals.
The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement.
The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said.
In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam.
According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government.
The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.
The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet.
The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said.
The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said.
Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said.
The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said.
