MUDA scam: Cong to stage state-wide protests on Aug 19 against Guv's sanction to prosecute CM
Bengalru: The Congress in Karnataka will stage a state-wide protests against the permission given by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his alleged role in the MUDA alternative site 'scam'.
Gehlot on Saturday granted sanction for the prosecution of Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam’ based on the complaints by three activists, T J Abraham, Pradeep S P and Snehamayi Krishna.
They had alleged that Siddaramaiah misused his position to get alternative sites to his wife Parvathi in the posh localities of Mysuru by creating fake documents.
The chief minister has refuted the allegation and vouched to fight it out legally.
In a post on 'X', Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Congress state president, called upon his party leaders and workers to take out a kilometre long march to the Taluk and district level offices and submit memoranda addressed to the President of India Droupadi Murmu against the Governor's move.
"You all know that the BJP and the JD(S) are hatching a big conspiracy against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. It's our duty to fight against it," he said.
Shivakumar said the Congress will fight against the conspiracy that aims to "finish off Siddaramaiah".
"We need to fight against the misuse of the office of the Governor, which granted permission to prosecute the Chief Minister," he said.
The Congress state president called upon the party leaders and workers to participate in the protest in large numbers.
The Congress party and the state Cabinet on Saturday backed the chief minister and turned down the opposition's demand for his resignation.
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Suburban rail project: HC halts axing of 368 trees at Bengaluru Cantonment
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has ordered that no trees should be cut or damaged on over eight acres of land near Cantonment Railway Station, where a suburban rail project has been proposed, The New Indian Express reported on Thursday.
The order was reportedly issued by a division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha after hearing a PIL filed by former MLA AT Ramaswamy and three others. Notices were issued to the state government, central government, Karnataka Biodiversity Board and the tree officer.
Countering the apprehension expressed by the counsel for petitioners over the move to axe trees, the Additional Solicitor General of India (on behalf of the Centre), submitted that the state has rightly withdrawn the notification as it was issued without consulting the Centre.
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Also, the petition is premature as the application has been made to the tree officer seeking permission to cut trees for the suburban rail project on the land in question, he said.
The petitioners reportedly said the land is an old green space with 371 large trees and forms part of the Cantonment Railway Station area. They argued that a public notice was issued in April inviting objections to the plan to remove 368 trees for the suburban rail project.
The notice stated that the commercial development project will come up on the land measuring 34,856 sq mts, which has been leased to a private company.
They also pointed out that the state government had earlier decided to declare the area a biodiversity heritage site, but the notification was withdrawn in December without explanation.
They termed the decision atrocious and the reasons given absurd. The petitioners alleged that, “It is very clear that all is not well with the state, which has taken a retrograde decision, though it is a matter of grave concern, which will have an adverse impact on Bengaluru’s environment.”
